JD Supra May 3, 2023
On January 31, 2020, pursuant to Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) determined that a public health emergency (PHE) exists due to the soaring number of COVID-19 cases in the United States. In March 2020, President Donald Trump issued a national emergency declaration according to Section 201 of the National Emergencies Act. Nobody knew at the time that the PHE would last 1,196 days, or the extent to which the pandemic would strain the country’s healthcare system. Despite the best efforts of public health officials and healthcare providers, 102 million Americans would suffer from COVID-19, and 1.1 million would die. The...