HHS extended the COVID-19 public health emergency July 15.
The agency extended the declaration, which has been in place since January 2020, through Oct. 13 and will give states 60 days' notice before the termination or expiration of the declaration, CNN reported July 15.
"The public health emergency declaration continues to provide us with tools and authorities needed to respond to the highly transmissible COVID-19 subvariants that are currently circulating around the country," an unidentified Biden administration official told CNN, adding that the declaration "provides essential capabilities and flexibilities to hospitals to better care for patients, particularly if we were to see a significant increase in hospitalizations in the coming weeks."
The move comes as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths increase nationwide as the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to spread. The CDC estimates BA.5 accounts for 65 percent of U.S. COVID-19 cases.