COVID-19 Legislative Update

August 13, 2020

Federal Legislation Supplemental IV Timeline: Things are looking bad. There’s an expectation that no negotiations, barring an unforeseen shakeup, will resume until after both parties’ nominating conventions. Secretary Mnuchin reached out to Speaker Pelosi earlier this week, but because neither side had shifted, the calculus remained the same and nothing came of it. White House Chief of Staff Meadows is apparently on vacation currently. Negotiations will likely resume in September.

Process/Politics: Before negotiations broke down, Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer offered White House Chief of Staff Meadows and Secretary Mnuchin to set the top line at $2 trillion – Democrats would come down $1 trillion and Republicans would come up $1 trillion. Republicans rejected that offer and countered with negotiating and passing multiple, smaller bills, which Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer declined. Speaker Pelosi has continued to reiterate that negotiations will not resume until there is agreement on the top line number. The White House believes the numbers on new unemployment claims and the stock market’s resilience has bolstered their choice to hold on going above $1 tillion.

There’s been very little, if any, pushback on Speaker Pelosi from her caucus – Democrats remain united behind the strategy to continue to hold for a better deal. However, members have been increasingly concerned about funding and management of the US Postal Service considering the election.

As mentioned in previous updates, even if discussions were to start again soon, it will take negotiators a while to agree upon a framework and allow committees to hammer out details. Committees will likely not be able to work through every issue and would need to pass most contentious issues back up to leadership. Once negotiations resume, a deal and a final bill will take time to draft and hammer out.

Note: As it increasingly looks like negotiations will bleed into September and funding for the government runs out September 30, Congress will need to pass a very clean continuing resolution (CR). A clean CR still requires negotiations – there are always riders, small changes, and other additions. However, there is a hope that members will recognize the necessity of reserving political will for negotiations on the COVID 4 package and limit the number of add-ons on the CR.

Policy: As the executive orders the President issued last Saturday partially indicated, the next package will likely address unemployment insurance, funding for testing and providers, funding for education, and likely some form of rental and student assistance. The most contentious issues, however, continue to be unemployment insurance and the level of funding for state, local, and tribal governments. Democrats have also pushed for funding for broadband, the U.S. Postal Service, and election security, among other things.

HEALS: Senate Republicans released the eight-bill package the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools (HEALS) Act on July 27. See the following for the individual bills. American Workers, Families, and Employers Assistance Act (Senate Finance Committee provisions) text here, section by section here. Continuing Small Business Recovery and Paycheck Protection Program Act (Small Business provisions) press release here, text here, section by section here, one pager here. Coronavirus Response Additional Supplemental Appropriations Act (Appropriations provisions) text here, summary here. Restoring Critical Supply Chains and Intellectual Property Act (Supply Chain and Research provisions) text here, section by section here. SAFE TO WORK Act (Liability Relief) text here, section by section here. Safely Back to School and Back to Work Act (Health, Education, and Labor Provisions) text here, section by section here. Supporting America’s Restaurant Workers Act text here. TRUST Act text here, section by section here, one pager here.

HEROES: The House passed the Democrats’ opening bid for the next bill, the Heroes Act, on May 15. While it’s been over two months since House passage of the bill and the contours of the debate and which issues are most pressing have shifted slightly, it can still serve as a marker of what Senate Republicans will be responding to in their bill. Heroes Act text (as of 5/12/2020) here. Section by section here. One pager here. State and Local one pager here. NCAI’s summary on tribal provisions here. Manager’s amendment here. House Rules Committee report here.

Passed Legislation Moving forward, this section will only include new information and guidance. For past information and guidance and passed legislation, please refer to the archives. For a summary of all supplementals, please see here.

New Implementation Information and Guidance

 8/10 – The Treasury Department and Small Business Administration released updated data on the Paycheck Protection Program. Data here.  8/9 – The Department of Labor notified governors of their ability to apply for funding for unemployment insurance, made available through the President’s executive order last Saturday. Link to funding application here. Notice of announcement here.  8/7 – HHS and the Health Resources and Services Administration announced the next distribution for nursing homes through the Provider Relief Fund. The distribution will total $5 billion and will be used by nursing homes to protect residents. Approximately $2.5 billion in funding will be dedicated to increasing testing, staffing, and PPE needs of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The initial $2.5 billion will go out mid-August, with the remaining distributed through the fall. Press release here.

Members of Congress in Quarantine or Treatment (new additions in bold) Tested Positive (2): Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) Currently Self-Quarantined (1): Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) Recovered (10): Sen. (R-KY), Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-SC), Rep. Ben McAdams (D- UT), Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL), Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC), Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Rep. Louie Gohmert (R- TX) Completed Quarantine (44): Sen. (R-TX), Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC)*, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS), Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R- FL), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA), Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-TX), Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Rep. David Schweikert (R- AZ), Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-NY), Rep. David Price (D-NC), Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Rep. Steve Scalise (R- LA), Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OK), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. (R-UT), Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA), Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Sen. (R-TN), Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), Rep. Kay Granger (R- TX), Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA)

*Mark Meadows was quarantined as a member of Congress, before he resigned to become the White House Chief of Staff.

COVID-19 Compilation

August 13, 2020

Iowa At 10 a.m. Thursday, the state was reporting 954 COVID-19-related deaths, an increase of seven deaths since the state's tally at 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to the state's Coronavirus.Iowa.gov website. The state was reporting at 10 a.m. Thursday that there are 50,135 confirmed cases of coronavirus, an increase of 501 since 10 a.m. Wednesday. According to the state's website, there were 344 confirmed cases Wednesday and have been 132 additional cases Thursday, as of 10 a.m. Earlier Thursday, the state surpassed 50,000 cases.

Of those tested for the virus on Wednesday, 5.2% were positive. Since the state started tracking the positivity rate, 9.3% of people who have been tested were positive. Of the 50,135 people who have tested positive, 39,214 have recovered, according to the state. The total number of people tested is 537,339, including 6,572 on Wednesday. At 10 a.m. Thursday, the state was reporting 261 hospitalizations, up from 257 on Wednesday. In the past 24 hours, 38 patients have been admitted. Also, there are 88 patients in the ICU, up from 76 on Wednesday.

Washington, D.C.

 Today, HHS announced combined investments of $6.5 million in two commercial diagnostic laboratories to expand capacity to conduct up to 4 million additional COVID-19 tests per month. The investments in Aegis Sciences Corporation and Sonic Healthcare USA will provide critical laboratory equipment supplied by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and Thermo Fisher Scientific and increase staffing and infrastructure to allow the U.S. to perform an additional 1 million tests each week by early October.  On Tuesday, HHS Sec. met with former Taiwan Vice President Chen and a group of COVID-19 response experts for a discussion on Taiwan's pandemic response and ways the U.S. and Taiwan can further their collaboration on disease response and other global health issues.  HHS and the DoD today announced an agreement with Moderna, Inc. to manufacture and deliver 100 million doses of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The federal government will own these vaccine doses. Moderna will manufacture the vaccine doses while clinical trials are underway. Manufacturing in parallel with clinical trials expedites the traditional vaccine development timeline and builds toward the U.S. government’s goal to begin delivering safe and effective vaccines to the American people by the end of the year. If the FDA authorizes use, the vaccine doses would be distributed and used as part of a COVID-19 vaccination campaign.  Yesterday, HHS issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity to expand and accelerate innovative uses of electronic health information via health information exchanges (HIEs) to support state and local public health agencies. The Agency says that strengthening health data exchange and use between HIEs and state and local public health agencies will help communities to better prevent, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies, including disasters and pandemics such as COVID-19. Award recipients will focus on improving HIE services (such as last-mile connectivity and data services) in support of state and local public health agencies. Award recipients will be required to deploy services that can enable, enhance, or increase the use of health information exchange at the state and local levels among relevant entities, and be inclusive of a diverse set of participating providers, including those who care for vulnerable or at-risk populations. They also will be required to engage in activities that address communities disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, considering factors such as age, race, ethnicity, disability, and sex.  Read Assistant Sec. for Health ADM 's statement on COVID-19 point-of-care testing efforts in Miami here.  The Administration for Community Living (ACL) announced that the ARCH National Respite Network's Lifespan Respite Technical Assistance Center, working with experts in the field of respite services, has released Voluntary National Guidelines on Providing and Receiving Respite Safely during the Pandemic.  The FDA posted a new website with FAQs on Importing Medical Devices During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The FAQ page provides information on importing devices that have been issued EUAs and devices for which an enforcement-discretion policy has been published in a guidance document. The page also includes content on importing respirators, face masks, and PPE, donating medical devices, importing other medical devices, monitoring import status, and identifying contacts for import questions.  The FDA also posted a new webpage with FAQs on Registration and Listing of Medical Devices During the COVID-19 Pandemic. This page provides information for medical device establishments, including owners and operators of places of business (also called facilities) that are involved in the production (e.g., manufacturing, assembling, processing) and distribution of medical devices that are authorized by EUAs or that are the subject of one of FDA’s COVID-19 guidance documents.  Yesterday, the FDA published an online Consumer Update with tips on how individuals can take some simple steps to help slow the spread of COVID-19.  The CDC has published new PSAs to encourage individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma.  The CDC continues to update its dashboard with new guidance documents and details, and I highly encourage exploring the newest toolkits. A few of the most recent additions include: o Hiring in-home services or repairs o Resources for refugee resettlement service providers o FAQ about COVID-19 and seasonal allergies o When you can be around others after you had or likely had COVID-19  The CDC updated its website to warn against using masks with exhalation valves or vents to slow the spread of COVID-19. According to the updated page, masks with vents or valves, “allow air to be exhaled through a hole in the material, which can result in expelled respiratory droplets that can reach others...This type of mask does not prevent the person wearing the mask from transmitting COVID-19 to others.”  Yesterday, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, sent letters to HHS Sec. Alex Azar, Operation Warp Speed Chief Advisor Dr. , and President and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Decision Vectors David Harris, seeking documents and information on potential conflicts of interest in Operation Warp Speed, the Administration’s vaccine and therapeutic development initiative. The letters also seek information on the Administration’s process to select vaccine candidates for investment through this initiative. Click here to read the letters to Sec. Azar, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, and David Harris.  Earlier this week, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO) wrote to CDC Director Robert Redfield requesting a briefing on the concerning impacts of COVID-19 on the nation’s children and young people.  A readout from Vice President Pence's Governors Briefing on COVID-19 response & best practices is available here.  President Trump is considering new immigration regulations that would allow border officials to temporarily block American citizens and legal permanent residents from returning to the U.S. from abroad if authorities believe they have COVID-19.  President Trump said the federal government is sending 125 million reusable face masks to school districts across the U.S. as schools consider whether it’s safe to reopen this fall amid the pandemic.  Negotiations for an additional coronavirus supplemental have fallen apart. Speaker Pelosi is standing firm at $2 trillion and the White House and Republican-led Senate have rejected the figure. For a more detailed description of what's on (or off, at this point) the table, and for a review of the broader COVID-19 legislative landscape, please refer to Sierra Fuller's COVID-19 Legislative Update (email [email protected] to subscribe).

Updates from the States

 Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 5,176,018 total cases and 165,148 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting.  California has become the first state to surpass 600,000 cases of COVID-19. Gov. (D) said yesterday that the state was “turning the corner on this pandemic” after hospitalizations declined 19 percent in two weeks.  Hawaii, one of two states that has seen sustained increases in cases in recent days, announced more than 350 new cases, its single-day record. Illinois is the other state with sustained increases. o On Tuesday, Florida and Georgia both reported their highest single-day COVID-19 death tolls.  North Dakota also broke its record for cases in a single day, with 201.  New Jersey Gov. (D) signed an EO that allows schools and universities to reopen for the upcoming academic year. School districts in the state still have the option to offer all-virtual classes.  Texas Gov. (R) said the state is ramping up distribution of PPE and encouraging Texans to wear masks and socially distance as cases in the state passed 500,000.  Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) ordered a series of actions to address racial disparities due to the COVID-19 pandemic in her city, including reports, advisory councils, town halls, and mask campaigns.  Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended the state's mandatory mask order.  The St. Louis, Missouri, Health Department issued an order that limits capacity of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs to 50 percent occupancy and institutes an 11:00 PM closing time.  Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas extended the city's COVID-19 state of emergency to January 16, 2021.  Schools in Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi have all reported cases of COVID-19 among staff and/or students after returning to in-person classes.  Several school districts in Arizona — which has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 in the country — plan to begin in-person schooling on Monday despite not meeting the suggested health benchmarks.  Useful state data: o NPR tracks where coronavirus cases are on the rise. o Use Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 U.S. map as a resource for media, policymakers, and communities to view a collection of critical public health data in one online destination and better understand and track the COVID-19 pandemic in populations both large and small across the country. o NASHP has developed a COVID-19 State Action Center which serves as a state-level policy dashboard. Governing is also keeping a running tally of coronavirus news and impacts at the intersection of the health and economic crises in the states and localities. o This site from the Kaiser Family Foundation provides state-level information on cases/deaths, measures, health policy actions, and more. o This resource from Bloomberg Law is a database of State Quarantine and Public Health Laws related to the COVID-19 response. o This series of maps shows how states are responding to COVID-19, and this tracker, created and maintained by MultiState Associates, has an up-to-date list of executive orders and various travel restrictions. o Finally, this site offers COVID-19 projections assuming full social distancing and can be broken down by state.

Military/Defense

 CACI International’s CEO said the defense industry is confident that Section 3610 of the CARES Act – which provides reimbursements for contractors unable to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic – will be extended.  More than 100 House lawmakers, including some Republicans, signed a letter demanding President Trump reverse his decision to reduce federal funding by 25 percent to cover the cost of the National Guard’s COVID-19 response. o 34 Senate Democrats also sent a letter urging the White House to restore all federal funding for the National Guard.  Nearly one third of students enrolled at Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) schools in the U.S. will attend classes online this fall. o Only 13.5 percent of students enrolled at DODEA schools overseas will attend classes virtually.  The Army has validated the design for its future helicopter engine – the Improved Engine Turbine Program (ITEP) – despite fears that the COVID-19 pandemic would cause delays.  Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) Director Randall Walden said the U.S. Air Force’s B-21 Raider program remains on track despite impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Adm. Phil Davidson, head of the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command, said that personnel and their families represent nearly 7 percent of the COVID-19 cases in Hawaii.  The Air Force Academy began socially distanced classes for the roughly 4,400 cadets on campus.

International Affairs

 New Zealand reported 13 new community cases of COVID-19 as the country tackles a fresh outbreak that ended a run of more than 100 days without any locally transmitted . Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was a positive sign that all 13 new community cases were linked back to one infected family, either via work or broader family connections, and that all were being transferred into quarantine facilities.  On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the approval of a COVID-19 vaccine for use. o Dr. Bruce Aylward, senior adviser of the director-general of the WHO, said there is not “sufficient information at this point to make a judgement” on the Russian vaccine. U.S. health officials have also questioned the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.  Brazil reported 55,155 new COVID-19 cases as well as an additional 1,175 deaths in the past 24 hours.  Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra announced new lockdown measures after the country has reported increases in COVID-19 cases during the month of July. Vizcarra issued an official decree that orders six more regions and 34 provinces placed under localized lockdown.  Australia posted its lowest one-day rise in new COVID-19 cases in more than three weeks today, dampening hopes that a second wave of new infections in Victoria state is being brought under control. Australian states and territories most recently reported 292 new infections in the past 24 hours, down from 428 detected in the previous day and the lowest since July 20.  The Philippines plans to start clinical trials for a Russian COVID-19 vaccine in October, with President Rodrigo Duterte expected to be inoculated as early as May 2021.  A sample of frozen chicken wings imported into the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen from Brazil has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a notice from the city government.  India has now reported the fourth most coronavirus-related deaths in the world after the U.S., Brazil, and Mexico. It surpassed Britain in today's reports.  The British economy has reportedly plunged into a record-shattering recession, shrinking by a fifth in the second quarter and posting the steepest decline of any Group of Seven nation.  One of Greece’s overcrowded camps for migrants has recorded its first few COVID-19 cases, prompting officials to lock down the camp until August 25.  Mexico and Argentina announced a deal to produce an initial batch of 150 million to 250 million doses of the AstraZenica vaccine against the coronavirus and distribute them in Latin America, with manufacturing potentially starting in early 2021.  Students and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 at eight schools in Berlin, just days after many students returned to classrooms.  Global Cases: 20,439,814 Total Deaths: 744,385

Lifestyle, Science, and Economy

 In a recent survey, U.S. residents reported signs of eroding mental health, in reaction to the toll of COVID-19 illnesses and deaths and to the life-altering restrictions imposed by lockdowns. Young adults and Black and Latino people in particular describe rising levels of anxiety, depression and even suicidal thoughts, and increased substance abuse, according to findings from the CDC.  A study in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report suggests that pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely to be hospitalized and are at increased risk for intensive care unit (ICU) admission and receipt of than nonpregnant women. Risk of death is similar for both groups. But much remains unknown. Read more here.  Federal data cited by two long-term care associations this week show that the number of new cases in nursing homes bottomed out at 5,468 during the week of June 21 and has climbed steadily upward to 8,628 for the week of July 19, the latest available week. That is a 58 percent increase that roughly parallels the rise in U.S. cases overall during that time.  A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine points out that minority groups are underrepresented in clinical trials and calls on government agencies, medical journals, and research funders, among others, to diversify study participants in order to be able to generalize results to the larger U.S. population.  Data collected by Stanford researchers in May shows that teenagers and young adults who vape face a much higher risk of COVID-19 than their peers who do not vape.  New research and state-by-state data from Brown University suggests that stay-at-home orders helped slow the pandemic significantly.  Chinese company CanSino Biologics Inc. has begun conducting Phase 3 trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia, after completing the first two phases of the human trials in China. Following confirmation of the vaccine’s effectiveness and safety of the vaccine in Phase 1 and 2, Phase 3 will involve multi-center clinical studies in several countries and a large number of volunteers.  Public release of hospital data about COVID-19 has slowed to a crawl, one month after the federal government ordered states to report it directly to HHS and bypass the CDC. One report cites that key indicators, such as estimates of the portion of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, are lagging by a week or more, making it harder for citizens and local officials to get a handle on how the pandemic is progressing and for agencies to allocate supplies of antiviral drugs and PPE.  Pennsylvania State University is making students sign a liability agreement and assume all risk of COVID-19 prior to returning to campus for the fall semester.  Unemployment claims fell below 1 million in the U.S. for the first time in four months.  AMC Theaters, the country’s largest movie theater chain, announced it will resume operations August 20 after a five-month shutdown, selling tickets for 15 cents.  NCAA President Mark Emmert announced today that Division I fall sports championships excluding football would be canceled. Please send book recommendations my way as NCAA Women's Soccer previously consumed my autumn free time.  The WHO keeps a running list of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, which you can view here. STAT News also has a resource tracking COVID-19 drugs and vaccines.  Continue to look at the NIH Office of Portfolio Analysis’s (OPA) expert-curated portfolio of COVID-19 publications and preprints. The portfolio includes peer-reviewed articles from PubMed and preprints from medRxiv, bioRxiv, ChemRxiv, and arXiv. It is updated daily with the latest available data and enables users to explore and analyze the rapidly growing set of advances in COVID-19 research.

Helpful Articles/Media

 Daily WHO Situation Report (8/11) (8/12) (8/13)  ‘We’re losing an entire generation of scientists.’ COVID-19’s economic toll hits Latin America hard  Viable SARS-CoV-2 in the air of a hospital room with COVID-19 patients  Antibody therapies could be a bridge to a coronavirus vaccine — but will the world benefit?  Companies test antibody drugs to treat, prevent COVID-19  Treatment of COVID-19 Patients with Convalescent Plasma Reveals a Signal of Significantly Decreased Mortality  Here is last week’s COVIDView from CDC, a weekly summary and interpretation of key indicators that have been adapted to track the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.  Winter is coming: Why America’s window of opportunity to beat back Covid-19 is closing  Clinical Course and Molecular Viral Shedding Among Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Patients With SARS- CoV-2 in a Community Treatment Center in the Republic of Korea  Operational Considerations for Maintaining Essential Services for and Providing Maternal, Newborn, and Child Healthcare in Low-Resource Countries  Symptom Duration and Risk Factors for Delayed Return to Usual Health Among Outpatients with COVID-19 in a Multistate Health Care Systems Network — United States, March–June 2020  Research in the Context of a Pandemic  Neutralizing Antibodies Isolated from COVID-19 Patients May Suppress Virus  We are mutating SARS-CoV-2, but it is evolving back  Chloroquine does not inhibit infection of human lung cells with SARS-CoV-2  MMWR Weekly COVID-19 Briefing is a weekly podcast to update readers on the latest scientific information from CDC’s COVID-19 response. In each episode, MMWR’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Charlotte Kent provides an overview of the latest scientific information published in MMWR. New episodes are posted every Monday. Listen to episodes here.  Infographic: Early Cases of MIS-C: Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in U.S. Children  Safe Pregnancy As COVID-19 Surges: What's Best For Mom And Baby?  Researchers Publish Encouraging Early Data on COVID-19 Vaccine  IHS audiologist wears clear face covering to better communicate with patients  Placenta lacks major molecules used by SARS-CoV-2 virus to cause infection  Listen to the Kaiser Health News podcast ‘What The Health?’: ‘Open The Schools, Close The Bars’  Update: COVID-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities ― United States, April–May 2020  How the Coronavirus Has Changed Air Travel: A Visual Diary of a Flight  The Fullest Look Yet at the Racial Inequity of Coronavirus  Data show panic and disorganization dominate the study of Covid-19 drugs  What Seniors Should Know Before Going Ahead With Elective Procedures  Effort to screen potential COVID-19 antiviral drugs underway  Lab-grown 'mini-brains' suggest COVID-19 virus can infect human brain cells  Principal Deputy Director of the CDC, Dr. Anne Schuchat, participated in an interview with the Editor in Chief of JAMA. You can view it here.  Characteristics of Women of Reproductive Age with Laboratory-Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Pregnancy Status — United States, January 22–June 7, 2020  Safer reopening will require millions more Covid-19 tests per day. One solution: ‘pool testing’  Covid-19 vaccine research must involve Black and Latinx participants. Here are 4 ways to make that happen  Scientists just beginning to understand the many health problems caused by COVID-19  Sex differences in immune responses in COVID-19  Are women leaders significantly better at controlling the contagion?  As the economy reopens, scientists still have a lot to learn about coronavirus immunity  The impact of COVID-19 and strategies for mitigation and suppression in low- and middle-income countries  SARS-CoV-2 Infections and Serologic Responses from a Sample of U.S. Navy Service Members — USS Theodore Roosevelt, April 2020  Vaccine Access and Hesitancy: The Public Health Importance of Vaccines  Dr. Fauci Gives a Coronavirus Update for the DC Area  Acute kidney disease in critically ill COVID-19 patients  Special Report: COVID deepens the other opioid crisis - a shortage of hospital painkillers  First Reported Cases of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Companion Animals — New York, March–April 2020  Past epidemics underscore importance of mental health amid COVID-19  When 511 Epidemiologists Expect to Fly, Hug and Do 18 Other Everyday Activities Again  Johns Hopkins data capture.  Other tracking data here.

Common Acronyms Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Central Command (CENTCOM), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), Executive Order (EO)

CDC, 8.13.20, this chart shows the number of new COVID-19 cases reported each day in the U.S. since the beginning of the outbreak.

Map updated 8.13.20

(data from WHO daily situation reports) For more information, visit CDC’s Novel Coronavirus 2019 website

David R. Adelman Principal & Director | Government Affairs