News

  • Feeling lost about recent changes to vaccine guidance? Wondering what’s changed with COVID-19 guidance following the expiration of the Public Health Emergency declaration? Sol, our inquiry bot, is ready to answer your questions with the most up-to-date resources. Visit covid-chat.org to learn from Sol!
  • While the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) ended last week, some other aspects of the U.S. government’s COVID-19 response are still being phased out. We know understanding the changing resources can be confusing, and this timeline from the Kaiser Family Foundation can help you identify key dates when various federal actions and resources, including the PHE, are no longer in effect.
  • The public health emergency and related vaccination requirements for people entering the U.S. by land and by air ended last week. CDM created these graphics in English, Spanish and Mixteco to help spread the word about the lifted vaccination requirements.
  • The CDC updated their guidelines on ventilation in buildings. Among the updates, the guidelines recommend a minimum of 5 air changes per hour in occupied spaces and a MERV 13 or higher filter for HVAC systems. They also include a set of FAQs with detailed technical information.

Download video in English and Spanish.

Download audio in English and Spanish.

Opportunities

  • Interested in building upon the outreach and engagement strategies you utilized during COVID-19 to improve behavioral health for underserved racial and ethnic communities? Check out this funding opportunity from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
  • Many of our PPP partners serve rural communities and may be interested in an upcoming webinar that focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 recession on people with disabilities in rural areas of the U.S. The webinar is tomorrow, Wednesday, May 17 at 12 PM ET – register here.

*Data Update*

Given the end of the public health emergency last week and changes in the availability of COVID-19 data, we’re pausing the inclusion of data in our weekly update. We hope to provide COVID-19 data insights again in the near future.

State Snapshots

Delaware

  • The Food Bank of Delaware will be holding a series of drive-thru food distributions in each county beginning this Friday. See the full schedule in this Facebook post.

Maryland

  • With the end of the PHE, the Maryland Department of Health is changing how it will provide COVID-19 updates and information for the public. See the full press release for detailed information on all of the changes.

Virginia

  • If you or someone you know has questions about Medicaid renewal or received a coverage termination letter, our PPP partner, Legal Aid Justice Center, can help! Contact LAJC’s Medicaid hotline at (804) 340-7747 (English) or (804) 340-7738 (Spanish).

North Carolina

  • The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services published one-pagers in English & Spanish to help North Carolina residents navigate possible changes in benefits related to the end of the PHE.

South Carolina

  • The Department of Health and Environmental Control recently announced that its supply of free, at-home test kits at health departments across the state has been refreshed, and new tests do not expire until the beginning of 2024. Find a location that distributes free at-home tests.

Georgia

  • To commemorate workers who died due to workplace accidents or illness in Georgia, Sur Legal Collaborative published videos in English and Spanish sharing data about these worker deaths.