Today.

May 11th marks the official end of the COVID public health emergency.

First declared in early 2020, a group of Kentucky doctors met today by Zoom to talk about where we are as a state.

What people still need to do to deal with COVID and what lessons we should take from the pandemic.

That's more in tonight's look at medical news.

What is the state of COVID right now?

The public health emergency is over.

And in fact, I think it was functionally over maybe a year ago when hospitals weren't getting overwhelmed anymore.

Currently, vaccines are preventing severe illness.

They're not really I don't see it preventing infection.

But but we're not seeing the same type of patients in the hospital that we saw before.

So in the past, we would see martial arts experts who were in unbelievable physical shape that had no other medical problems and ended up almost dying and stuck on the ventilator for a month at a time.

We're not seeing that type of patient anymore.

We as a nation need to learn to sacrifice our personal freedom for personal sports, for personal responsibility, for public responsibility.

When appropriate.

We need to wear a mask.

We need to socially distance, and we need to get a vaccine.

The good news is I survived and I'm doing well.

We can't forget the people who didn't.

The good news is hospitalizations are down, case numbers are down, death rates are down.

Antivirals and vaccines are available.

And as a physician and a patient, I am encouraged and hopeful to see continued improvement.

If we have a vaccine for something.

Get it.

Vaccines save people.

Go talk to the folks who lived 200 years ago and lost half their children right.

Vaccines changed that.

Public health changed that.

And if you're sick, wear a mask.

I don't care what you got.

I don't want your jitterbug.

I don't want your flu.

I don't want your COVID.

Right.

And you don't want to spread that.

And as I always tell folks, you never know who in your life is immune suppressed.

You never know who you're standing next to, who you could make sick.

And all you have to do is put on a.

It's not that horrible.

So if you have symptoms, get tested.

But regardless, put on a mask and stay away from large groups of folks for a few days and we can all be better stewards of all of our friends.

So this whole this whole pandemic has been life altering in many ways.

And in that that alteration of life has been different for different people.

And certainly it's been life altering for some of our patients, but it's been life altering for our hospital systems.

It's been life, all of it.

It has caused disruption for individual caregivers.

And and we've learned lots of things.

And I'm proud of so many folks.

But I certainly hope that we don't have to go through anything like that again.

The doctors taking part in today's discussion said there were additional benefits to Americans wearing masks.

They said during the height of the pandemic, flu cases were virtually nonexistent.

Kentucky's commissioner for Public Health, Dr. Stephen Stack, says don't let your guard down just because the pandemic is officially over.

Staying current with your COVID 19 vaccination remains the easiest and most effective way to protect yourself from the severe harm of COVID or its worst complications.

I urge everyone, please be open to getting your vaccine.

It's never been easier, and now the vast majority of people just need to get one dose.

No matter how many previous doses you've had once a year in your current testing will change.

The A free test per month will go away.

Insurance companies will no longer be required to pay for that.

You should still be tested in drugstores.

And of course, if you need a medical test, the medical community, health care community will be able to provide that.

Congressman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky second District is chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health.

He put out a statement about the end of the COVID emergency.

He says, quote, By unnecessarily dragging out this emergency declaration, the Biden administration has severely damaged our government.

Public health agencies credibility as we seek to restore public trust in these institutions.

It's crucial we further expose what went wrong.

Hold government agencies accountable for authoritarian decisions, and look for opportunities to improve in the future.

The American people deserve a government that is honest, transparent and trustworthy, and House Republicans will work to provide them that to them, unquote.