This fall marks the first virus season since COVID-19 emerged in which hospitals and health systems must independently decide when and how to implement universal masking.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK) Millions of COVID-19 reinfections have been reported across the country yet just 11 states confirmed they are actively tracking them, according to an ABC News analysis.
At least 18 states used to track infections but stopped once the public health emergency ended in May 2023.
Public health experts said tracking reinfections is important for understanding long-term complications and immunity from vaccination. Resources at health departments, however, are now being diverted to other areas that are in need. It comes even as COVID-19 hospitalizations tick up across the U.S., though experts say it s no reason for concern yet.
"It takes an enormous amount of resources not only to track COVID in its own right but also to track those reinfections," Dr. Richard Martinello, a professor of internal medicine and pediatrics in infectious diseases at the Yale School of Medicine, told ABC News. "I m not surprised that we don t have all of our