Gov. Reynolds announces expiration of Public Health Proclamation, changes to COVID-19 data reporting | Office of the Governor of Iowa – Governor Kim…

Governor Reynoldssignedthefinalextension of the states Public Health DisasterEmergencyProclamationtoday,announcingitwill expire at 11:59 p.m. onTuesday,February15,2022.The signed proclamation can be foundhere.

The proclamation was firstissuedin accordance with the Governors executive authorityonMarch17, 2020,toenable certain public health mitigation measures duringthestates response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Overtime, it includedhundreds ofprovisionsassembledin the midst of an emergency to quickly addressapandemicthenationknew little about. Today, the remaining16provisionsfocusprimarilyon lingering workforce issues exacerbated by the pandemic that are best addressed outside of emergency executive powers.

The State of Iowa is working with stakeholders in an effort to address pervasiveworkforceissues through more permanent solutions like legislation, rule changes, and grant programs.

We cannot continue tosuspend duly enacted laws andtreatCOVID-19asa public health emergencyindefinitely.After two years,its no longer feasible or necessary. The flu and other infectious illnesses are part of our everyday lives,and coronavirus can be managed similarly, stated Gov. Reynolds. Stateagencieswill nowmanage COVID-19 as part of normal daily business, andreallocateresources that have beensolelydedicated to the response effort toserve other important needsforIowans.

Theexpiration of Iowas Public Health DisasterEmergencyProclamation willresult inoperational changes related to the COVID-19 response.The most noticeable change will be how data is reported publicly.The statestwoCOVID-19 websites, coronavirus.iowa.govand vaccinateiowa.gov,will be decommissionedon February 16, 2022, but information will remain accessible onlinethroughotherstate and federal resources.

While our COVID-19 reporting will look different, Iowans should rest assured that the state health department will continue to review and analyze COVID-19 and other public health data daily, just as we always have, stated Kelly Garcia, director of the Iowa Department of Public Health(IDPH).The new format willincludedata points that Iowans areused to seeing, but moves us closer to existing reporting standards for other respiratory viruses. This new phase also assures that our teams, who have been deeply committed to the COVID-19 response, can return to their pre-pandemic responsibilities, andrefocuson areaswhere the pandemic has taken a hard toll.

IDPHwillreportrelevantCOVID-19 informationweekly on its website,similar to howflu activityis reported.Data willincludepositive testssince March 2020and in the last seven days, cases by county,anepidemiologic curve, variants by weekand deaths since March 2020. Vaccine information, including total series and boosters completed, demographics for fully vaccinated Iowans,and vaccination by county, will also be reported.Aligningthe agencysreporting processes will create greater efficiency for its staffwhilecontinuing toprovideimportantinformationto Iowans.Thenew reportwill be availablestarting February 16 atidph.iowa.gov.

The State of Iowa anditshealth care providers willalsocontinue to reportCOVID-19dataas requiredbythe Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC).The CDCs COVID Data Trackerreports state-level data for cases, deaths, testing, vaccination and more. The site is available at coronavirus.gov orcovid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker.

The State Hygienic Labwill continue to operate the Test Iowa at Home program. Astesting supply increases andmore options for self-testing become available, the state willreassessthe needfor the program.For more information or to request an at-home test, visit testiowa.com.

States are not required to have adisaster proclamation in place tobe eligible forfederal coronavirus-relatedfundingor resources. Iowa will continue to receive vaccineand therapeuticallocations as normal after theproclamation expires.

Nearlyhalfof U.S.states have already discontinued their public health proclamations, and several more are set to expire in February if they arent renewed.

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Gov. Reynolds announces expiration of Public Health Proclamation, changes to COVID-19 data reporting | Office of the Governor of Iowa - Governor Kim...