May 11 marks end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency

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By Dispatch staff report

May 10, 2023 at 5:16 PM

The federal COVID-19 public health emergency will end Thursday, May 11.

“The end of the federal public health emergency signifies another turning point in our progress to manage this disease that has impacted all of our lives over the last three and a half years.

We are in a better place now to manage COVID-19 because of the availability of things like testing, treatments, and especially vaccines. These tools help us lessen some of the severe impacts from this disease,” the Minnesota Department of Health reported in a news release.

“However, COVID-19 is not gone, and continued progress will depend on all of us continuing to use these tools and other prevention steps to help protect ourselves and others. Even as the public health emergency ends, it’s important to know that COVID-19 vaccines and treatments are still free at this time. People may see some changes to costs for COVID-19 tests depending on their insurance.”

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The state health department reported COVID-19 will remain part of its everyday work even as the shift continues to move away from the emergency response to a more traditional public health role. Updated information on COVID-19 will continue to be part of the health department’s website.

Starting Thursday, people who enabled COVID-19 exposure notifications on their phone will see a message that the service is no longer available. Exposure notifications in Minnesota relied on technology that was able to be shared with states through funding at the national level that will be stopping as the federal public health emergency ends.

Exposure notifications ending means people who were using this technology on their phone will no longer receive notifications about a possible COVID-19 exposure. People who have a positive test through a lab will no longer receive a code to use on their phone to notify others of an exposure, and people who test positive with an at-home test will no longer be able to request a code to use on their phone to notify people.

“Even though exposure notifications are being turned off at a national level, it is still important to take steps to protect yourself and others from COVID-19,” the health department stated. “Get vaccinated. Get tested if you have symptoms. If you have COVID-19 or if you were exposed, follow current recommendations found on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) .”

By Dispatch staff report

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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