CIDRAP- NEWS BRIEFS March 30, 2023

[Lance]

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/...ps-focus-covid

Quick takes: India's COVID rise, bill to end health emergency heads to Biden, China ups focus on COVID data

News brief

4 minutes ago.
Lisa M Brosseau, ScD, CIH
Topics

COVID-19

• A steep COVID-19 rise in India, which is experiencing its highest level in 6 months, has prompted stepped up testing in the capital city of New Delhi, Reuters reported today. The local government held an emergency meeting to discuss rising cases and has urged people in New Delhi to wear masks if they have flulike symptoms or are in hospital settings.
• Following a similar move by the House, the Senate yesterday—along party lines—passed a bill that would end the nation's public health emergency for COVID-19, CBS News reported. In late January, the White House announced that it would end the national emergencies for COVID on May 11, rejecting a Republican House proposal to end them abruptly. A White House official told CNN that President Biden would sign the measure while working with agencies to wind down the emergency and give as much notice to people impacted by the action. The public health and national emergencies have been in effect since 2020 and have given federal officials more funding and regulatory flexibility to respond to the pandemic.
• China has announced a plan to do random and spot checks at health facilities, part of an effort to shore up COVID data on severe illnesses and deaths, Reuters reported yesterday. Following the surge that began in late 2022, global health officials had raised concerns about incomplete and underreporting of China's COVID metrics.