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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced hospitals are no longer required to report COVID-19 data.
CDC: Hospitals No Longer Mandated to Report COVID-19 Data
The CDC says that hospitals no longer have to report COVID-19 hospital admissions, hospital capacity, or related information.https://t.co/TLcRtZCexe
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) May 3, 2024
Per the CDC:
Effective May 1, 2024, hospitals are no longer required to report COVID-19 hospital admissions, hospital capacity, or hospital occupancy data to HHS through CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). The data will be archived as of May 10, 2024, and available at United States COVID-19 Hospitalization Metrics by Jurisdiction, Timeseries.
CDC encourages ongoing, voluntary reporting of hospitalization data. Data voluntarily reported to NHSN after May 1, 2024, will be available starting May 10, 2024, at COVID Data Tracker Hospitalizations.
JUST IN – Hospitals no longer required to report COVID-19 data: CDC
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) May 3, 2024
The Epoch Times reports:
Officials have said they will use other data sources such as wastewater, laboratory tests, and emergency department information to report on the spread of COVID-19.
“A key lesson we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of having reporting systems in place before an active emergency,” a CDC spokesperson told news outlets about the change. “These data have a significant and ongoing value for protecting patient health and safety as well as public health,” the statement added.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, federal officials have been mandated to collect virus-related data from hospitals and states. The COVID-19 public health emergency officially expired in May 2023, but the hospital reporting was extended.
Meanwhile, CDC data shows that COVID-19 hospitalizations have appeared to hit a record low in the United States, years after virus spread to the United States in early 2020.
The CDC reported 5,615 COVID-19-related hospitalizations for the week ending April 20th, Healthcare Finance News noted.
CDC: Hospitals no longer required to report COVID-19 data https://t.co/zCNYFGRQF2
— Brian Doherty (@BDOH) May 3, 2024
In February, the CDC said it was monitoring a new COVID-19 strain, BA.2.87.1, which has more than 30 changes in the coronavirus spike protein. The spike protein is what the immune system targets when a virus enters a body. Immune systems are primed to protect people through immunity gained from vaccines and previous infections. In theory, variants with multiple changes in the spike protein could increase the possibility of escape from this immunity.
In the past year, several variants have had significant changes in their spike protein. Yet, despite those changes, existing immunity from vaccines and previous infections still provides good protection, the CDC said.
