Here we go again.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association called on the federal government to declare an emergency due to an increase in pediatric respiratory illnesses like influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The heads of the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) called (pdf) on President Joe Biden and Department of Health Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra “to declare an emergency to support the national response to the alarming surge of pediatric hospitalizations due to pediatric respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza along with the continuing children’s mental health emergency.”
Without providing specific data, they added that the pediatric hospitals “are being asked to support more care and higher levels of care than ever before.”
Similar warnings about few hospital beds were issued during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Hospital beds were deployed to New York City and Los Angeles, which were reportedly barely used to treat COVID-19 patients.
An emergency declaration would give some hospitals more leeway in freeing up bed capacity, said the letter. Biden should issue an emergency under the Stafford Act or the National Emergencies Act, the two CEOs wrote.
