California COVID state of emergency to end next year. Here’s what will change
California will soon end its COVID-19 state of emergency, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday.
What did the state of emergency do?
The COVID-19 state of emergency was established in March 2020, as coronavirus cases rose in the state. It allowed the state to ensure additional resources were available to stop the spread of the virus and enact emergency actions, such as the mask mandate.
It also protected individuals from price gouging of safety products, allowed for health care workers to work at out-of-state centers and gave health care facilities the ability to accommodate the influx of patients.
When does it end?
The emergency proclamation will be retired on Feb. 28, 2023.
“This timeline gives the health care system needed flexibility to handle any potential surge that may occur after the holidays in January and February,” according to Newsom’s office, “in addition to providing state and local partners the time needed to prepare for this phaseout and set themselves up for success afterwards.”
What changes?
The end to the state of emergency allows for the phasing out of the last of regulations and executive orders that were set forth to combat the coronavirus.
Nearly 600 directives were put in effect, following the state of emergency, with only 27 still active as of Oct. 17.
Some of the provisions that will be retired next year include:
▪ Waiving the requirement that health care personnel review COVID test results before giving it to a patient digitally
▪ Permitting emergency medical service personnel to perform practices, such as vaccinations, to allow nurses to work other duties
▪ Waiving requirements for local governments to renew their health emergency directives
▪ Authorizing the Department of State Hospitals to waive statutes that affect treatments and custody of individuals with mental illness
▪ Confirming authority of local health agencies to set orders that include requirements beyond the state requirements
Moving forward, California will be following the SMARTER plan, which was rolled out earlier this year in February. The plan follows the seven letters in the word “smarter” with S signifying shots, M for masks, A for awareness, R for readiness, T for testing, E for education and R for Rx treatment.
The Newsom administration will also seek legislative action to ensure the “continued ability of nurses to dispense COVID-19 therapeutics” and for “laboratory workers to solely process COVID-19 tests,” a news release stated.
This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 5:14 PM with the headline "California COVID state of emergency to end next year. Here’s what will change."