US faces tracking challenges as COVID emergency ends.

The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency in the US on May 11 will highlight the country's weaknesses in tracking outbreaks due to a fractured public health surveillance system. Laboratories will no longer be required to report coronavirus test results to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and hospitals and state health departments will report less comprehensive data, making it more difficult for the federal agency to protect Americans. The inconsistent and fragmented way data is reported from hospitals, doctor’s offices, and laboratories to local and state authorities and ultimately, the CDC, has hamstrung public health officials' ability to control the spread of infectious disease.