COVID-19 federal emergency ending, industries impacted by COVID

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Based on current COVID-19 trends, the federal government is declaring the Public Health Emergency over by the end of the day Thursday, May 11.

Tests will get more expensive and vaccines will remain covered for the most part.

As for the cost of the treatment it will depend on your insurance coverage.

The Biden Administration will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for international air travelers later in the week.

This means starting Friday, May 12 passengers will no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated to board a flight to the United States.

Jim Caldwell with Baton Rouge Metro Airport said, “We are seeing a continual increase since the pandemic. We are probably near pre-pandemic levels.”

He says the interest to fly the open skies is definitely back after years of scaled-back travelers.

“This is probably the first year that demand as a whole will exceed pre-pandemic levels,” added Caldwell.

The end of the emergency also means the end of vaccination requirements for federal employees and contractors.

The national emergency allowed the federal and state governments to take sweeping steps to respond to the virus.

An industry that took a punch during the pandemic was restaurants.

Owner of Poor Boy Lloyd’s Freddie Taylor explained, “It’s not like it used to be. We used to have lines out the door but every now and then we have a good day.”

He says he did everything he could to keep customers coming in and ordering their favorite meals.

Taylor added, “We followed the rules. We kept separations. We had to set up tables outside. We made adjustments inside.”

He says it wasn’t easy and it took a lot of effort to even keep those doors open.

He credits his family and the loyal employees who stuck around but says staffing woes are still a thing post pandemic.

“Sadly, it’s the hardest problem,” said Taylor.

Surviving the unknown, Taylor says, has him even more optimistic about future business.

“Apartments are coming up everywhere you look that will bring in more people,” Taylor said.

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