Missouri officials have to the coronavirus pandemic emergency, saying the state is moving on from the crisis.
But public health officials think it may be too early to declare victory over the pandemic.
鈥淚 found it laughable,鈥� Dr. Faisal Khan, St. Louis County's acting health director, said of the state鈥檚 announcement earlier this week. 鈥淭he pandemic is certainly not over; it's certainly not entering any semblance of an endemic phase. Pronouncements of victory are premature and self-delusional.鈥�
State health officials said the change in focus did not mean the virus had vanished. Instead, the state will treat it as a continuing threat similar to illnesses like strep throat and the flu.
The state will cease contact tracing efforts and report case data less frequently.
Statements that celebrate the end of the pandemic could erode public trust in local health departments and make any future health orders difficult to enforce, Khan said.
鈥淔rom a public health perspective, this is completely unnecessary and unhelpful,鈥� he said, adding the pandemic isn鈥檛 over just because people decide it is. 鈥淭he coronavirus and its variants are still a public health threat, whether it鈥檚 a bump or surge we don鈥檛 know, but now is not the time to declare victory unilaterally and let down our guard.鈥�
Just over 400 new cases of the coronavirus are being reported in Missouri each day, the lowest rate in more than a half-year.
Infection rates and hospitalizations are low, and large spikes of the virus aren鈥檛 showing up in the state鈥檚 sewer systems, said Lynelle Phillips, a University of Missouri professor and vice president of the state鈥檚 public health association.
But new variants could occur and cause spikes in cases, she said.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want a message that says 'OK, it鈥檚 over, back to life as normal,'鈥� Phillips said. 鈥淚t may be lurking in a low-level amount of transmission right now, but it鈥檚 lurking. So we need to have all those preparations in place.鈥�
Continuing surveillance of testing data and sewer shed surveillance is vital to track when and where those future spikes could happen, she said.
Members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, which comprises the region鈥檚 four largest hospital systems, also encouraged continued vigilance.
鈥淲e have collectively sacrificed and worked hard to get to this place in the pandemic, We continue to urge vigilance and vaccination,鈥� the task force said in a statement. 鈥淐OVID will continue to be with us, but we are in a much better place now. Let us use this time now to continue vaccinations and rebuild our public health and healthcare infrastructure that gave so much over the past two years.鈥�
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