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Summarizing CDC Guidance to Support COVID-19 Contact Tracing in K-12 Schools

As schools work to stay open for in-person learning, it is essential to understand key recommendations related to COVID-19 prevention in K-12 schools. CDC recommends that health department staff work closely with K-12 schools to ...

States Consider Expanding Scope of Flu Vaccine Policies

Blog,

The 2019-2020 flu season had approximately 5 million fewer illnesses than the previous year. Thanks to COVID-19 mitigation efforts like social distancing and increased handwashing—coupled with a higher rate of flu vaccinations among the ...

Updated Rundown of State and Territorial COVID-19 Mask Requirements

Blog,
Guam,
Ohio,

Several states and territories, as well as many local governments, are going beyond recommendations and requiring individuals to wear face coverings when they are in public settings and spaces (i.e. grocery stores, retail stores, ...

Domestic Holiday Travel Pandemic Restrictions and Recommendations

Blog,
Guam,
Iowa,
Ohio,
Utah,

The 2020 holiday season is coinciding with a nationwide surge of COVID-19 cases. With great concern that holiday travel to see loved ones may exacerbate community spread of the virus, many states are increasing public health measures ...

State Policy Actions to Support Long-Term Care Facilities During COVID-19 Response

Blog,

As COVID-19 emerged and spread in the U.S., people working and residing in long-term care facilities have experienced a significant burden of COVID-19 cases and deaths. As of Oct. 8, deaths associated with these facilities account for 40% ...

States Seek to Protect the Workers Who Feed America

Blog,
Ohio,

Responsible for planting, growing, harvesting, processing, and preparing the food we eat, agricultural workers are essential workers during the COVID-19 response to keep the U.S. food supply chain operating efficiently. But farmworkers are ...

Framing Health in All Policies: Terms That Resonate

Health in All Policies can be a successful strategy to expand collaboration between state and territorial agencies and other partners, but the terminology used in programs focused on these efforts can differ. While equity is often a ...

How States Are Housing the Homeless During a Pandemic

Blog,
Ohio,

Policymakers seek to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by focusing on non-congregate sheltering and alternative housing for unhoused populations.

State Legislative Activity Supports Federal Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Initiative

Blog,
STIs,
HIV,

Across the nation, public health agencies have mounted herculean efforts to stem the COVID-19 pandemic while addressing a pre-existing HIV epidemic and an opioid crisis that is serving as a source for many new HIV outbreaks. Tackling these ...

Preparedness Policy Highlights for Trending Public Health Threats

Blog,
Iowa,

While communities transition from emergency response to long-term monitoring and recovery, the federal government and states are taking legislative action to improve emergency preparedness capabilities.

Courts Consider Whether State Vaccination Laws Must Include a Religious Exemption

Blog,

During the 2022 state legislative sessions, at least 20 states considered bills that would require a religious exemption to a vaccine requirement. As state legislatures continue considering vaccine protocols for COVID-19, HPV, and other ...

Building a More Equitable Economy Post-Pandemic

Utah,
Blog,

Economic security and well-being, job stability, access to safe and affordable housing, access to healthy and nutritious foods, and access to resources to manage mental and physical health—all of these things impact individual, family, and ...

Isolation, Quarantine, and Public Health Authority Beyond the Pandemic

Blog,
Iowa,
Ohio,

Under the Tenth Amendment, states have the power to protect the health and welfare of their populations, including the authority to implement isolation and quarantine orders to limit the spread of disease. This post is an examination of ...

States and Territories Strengthening Infection Prevention and Control Policies

Blog,
Guam,

While largely preventable, healthcare-associated infections are the most common complication of hospital care, are a leading cause of death in the United States, and increased significantly during the pandemic. States have proposed ...

2022 Legislative Session Update: Part One

Blog,
Utah,

The ASTHO State Health Policy team provides brief updates on 5 of the ten state health policy issues to watch in 2022: public health authority, immunization, data privacy and modernization, public health workforce, and health equity.

State Public Health Authorities Face COVID-19 Legal Challenges

Blog,

As COVID-19 spread across the country, governors and health officials invoked their emergency powers to order physical distancing measures designed to reduce social interactions and slow the spread of the disease. Several of these ...

Social Distancing: How States are Handling Business Closures

Blog,

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, states are using their emergency powers to authorize a variety of social distancing measures. This post is a summary of executive orders that have led to the closure of many businesses and nonprofit ...

The Impact of COVID-19 Telehealth Flexibilities on Maternity Care

This brief focuses on how telehealth expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased access to care for pregnant and postpartum women, and made maternal and child health care services like doulas and midwives more accessible.

Expanding Pharmacist-Prescribed HIV PrEP

STIs,
HIV,
Utah,

PrEP is a powerful tool to reduce new HIV infections; expanding access to PrEP is a priority within the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative. One way to increase access to PrEP is by allowing pharmacists to prescribe and ...

Health Policy Tackles Joint Challenges of Pandemic and Natural Disaster Preparedness

Blog,

Each September marks National Preparedness Month. This year, public health emergency preparedness professionals look back on 20 years since the 9/11 attacks—the event that effectively launched the preparedness field—while actively ...