Photo provided Columbus Regional Health has converted a main hallway on the hospital’s first floor into a spill-over triage area
Local health officials said that the formal end of the national COVID-19 public health emergency is a symbolic step representing the community’s emergence from the pandemic but also means that several aspects of the pandemic response are coming to an end.
The national emergency, which expired on Thursday, allowed officials across the United States, including in Bartholomew County, to mobilize and sustain a sweeping response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
That response included extra food assistance, automatic re-enrollment in Medicaid and free testing, among other efforts. While some of those programs have already ended, some are still being phased out.
The public health emergency was initially declared on Jan. 31, 2020.
“The end of the public health emergency will initiate the wind down of most COVID-specific programs,” said Bartholomew County Health Officer Dr. Brian Niedbalski, who also is a Columbus Regional Health physician.
Locally, that means that CRH will no longer offer self-referred COVID-19 testing, Niedbalski said. Patients will instead need an order from their provider.
Additionally, Medicare and private insurers are no longer required to cover the expense of COVID-19 testing, including the popular at-home tests. Depending on a patient’s insurance, they may owe a co-pay or deductible.
Medications to treat COVID-19, such as Paxlovid, will remain available for free while supplies last. After that, prices will be determined by drugmakers and insurance companies.
COVID-19 vaccines, however, will continue to be available for free, at least for now. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says it “remains committed to maximizing continued access to COVID-19 vaccines.”
“Once the federal government is no longer purchasing or distributing COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, then payment, coverage and access may change,” Niedbalski said.
Bartholomew County, for its part, emerges from the pandemic as a very different place than a little over three years ago when the virus first struck. Many families are mourning the loss of loved ones, while others are still contending with the effects of long-COVID.
A total of 265 Bartholomew County residents have died from COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, according to the Indiana Department of Health.
In addition, the virus sent 6,488 Bartholomew County residents to hospital emergency rooms — about 8% of the county’s total population — and 2,313 local residents were hospitalized due to the virus, including 328 ICU admissions, according to data from the Regenstrief Institute.
However, officials said that the end of the public health emergency doesn’t mean that COVID-19 is no longer circulating. The most recent death from the virus in Bartholomew County ocurred on April 8, according to the Indiana Department of Health. There also has been one COVID-19 death each in Decatur and Jennings counties over the past month.
“The end of the public health emergency doesn’t mean that COVID is gone or anything like that,” said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue. “We are still seeing infections. There are still variants circulating out there. But the huge push from governmental programs and resources surrounding that has ended.”
CRH plans to maintain a COVID-19 unit at the hospital that can be ramped up or down depending on the need, DeClue said. As of late, “our (hospitalizations) have been really low and the severity of the cases has been low,” she said.
“It’s encouraging to see that we’ve gotten to this place, and it’s not surprising,” DeClue said of the end of the public health emergency. “I think it’s appropriate for where we’re at right now.”
But as the community continues to emerge from the worst public health crisis in a century, local health officials say they believe the local health system has tools they need to deal with future spikes in cases.
“As the pandemic has receded, the health care system knows that we have the resources and knowledge to effectively address a potential future resurgence,” Niedbalski said.
