President-Elect Biden, County Government Vet, Addresses Naco

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

President-Elect Biden, County Government Vet, Addresses Naco COUNTY CERTIFICATION COUNTY HOSPITALS FACE COUNTIES CREATE SAFE PROGRAM HELPS LOCAL SHORTAGES AS COVID-19 HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES BUSINESSES. PG. 4 CASES SURGE . PG. 7 DURING COVID-19. PG. 9 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of COUNTIES VOL. 52, NO. 23 DECEMBER 7, 2020 Vaccine development progresses to final steps by Blaire Bryant and Sarah Gimont Pfizer and its partner Bi- oNTech became the first COVID-19 vaccine manufac- turers to apply for an emer- gency use authorization (EUA) last month from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The application came days af- ter Pfizer announced that its vaccine showed 95 percent ef- ficacy at the completion of its Phase 3 clinical trial. While Pfizer was the first to President-elect Joe Biden speaks to members of the NACo Board of Directors Dec. 4 during the group’s Fall Board Meeting. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris apply for an EUA, Moderna and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who will direct Biden’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, also spoke to Board members. Photo by Leon Lawrence III quickly followed with an EUA application Nov. 30, after final analysis of its vaccine showed President-elect Biden, county government it is more than 94 percent ef- fective. These recent updates in vet, addresses NACo Board of Directors vaccine development present serious implications for coun- by Charlie Ban President-elect Kamala Harris the NACo Board, called to or- tional policy priorities for the ties, which will play an integral senior writer also spoke to members at the der by NACo President Gary new year and outlined the pro- role in coordinating vaccine remote meeting. Harris served Moore, judge/executive for cess and timeline for selecting distribution logistics for a pro- If faith in government is for two terms as district attor- Boone County, Ky., also ap- a South Region representative. cess that could start as early as going to be restored, it’s go- ney in San Francisco County, proved a proposal to adopt a “You are the single most this month. ing to happen at the county Calif. remote format and expanded consequential government The results from Pfizer’s level, with federal help, Pres- In addition to hearing from schedule for the 2021 Legisla- Phase 3 trial provided the data ident-elect Joe Biden told the the incoming administration, tive Conference, approved na- See NACo Board page 3 needed to seek FDA approval, NACo Board of Directors Dec. the final step in the vaccine de- 4 at its Fall Board Meeting. And velopment process. The FDA working closely with county of- grants EUAs during national ficials will be a priority, he told NACo urges Congress to act on direct emergencies, when the known them. benefits of a product outweigh In addition to Biden, a two- funding, CRF deadline extension year veteran of the New Cas- by Eryn Hurley legislation that would extend tinued job loss in the local See VACCINE page 2 tle County, Del. Council, Vice the Coronavirus Relief Fund government sector. In Octo- NACo is urging bipartisan (CRF) deadline. The letter can ber 2020, local governments agreement on a new round of be viewed here: https://www. experienced the largest de- direct flexible funding to local naco.org/letter-covid-relief. crease in employment — with governments of all sizes in the The letter highlights the non-education jobs ranging next COVID-19 response pack- devastating fiscal impact of from law enforcement officers age. the pandemic on America’s to health care practitioners, In a Dec. 2 letter to con- counties, which could total a social workers, maintenance gressional leadership, NACo combined $202 billion through crews, construction workers also highlighted the need for fiscal year 2021. These costs Congress to immediately pass are compounded by the con- See LEGISLATION page 2 2 DECEMBER 7, 2020 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of COUNTIES COUNTY NEWS Vaccine distribution could strain local budgets Contact your Senators, Reps From LEGISLATION page 1 From VACCINE page 1 future relief bill but not any leg- islative text. its known and potential risks. and administrative support, The “COVID-19 Emergency To date, the FDA has autho- remaining 354,000 below its Relief Framework” contains rized 289 COVID-19 tests and February 2020 level. In total, many county priorities includ- five treatments via EUA, how- local governments have lost 1.2 ing increased food assistance ever, Pfizer and Moderna are million jobs since the outset of and emergency funding for the first to request approval for the pandemic. childcare, re-upping the Pay- a vaccine. Over the past several months, check Protection Program, re- EUAs differ from biologics members in both chambers viving unemployment benefits license applications (BLAs), of Congress have introduced and providing $160 billion in which involve a lengthier and several proposals that would aid to state and local govern- more substantial process of appears to be the only one the vaccine. Pfizer expects to address the immediate needs ments. FDA approval that requires sig- that requires storage tempera- produce globally up to 50 mil- of local governments, includ- The framework also includes nificant evidence of both safe- tures below normal freezer or lion vaccine doses by the end ing counites, in pandemic re- an extension of the Coronavi- ty and effectiveness. Despite refrigerant levels. The storage of 2020 and up to 1.3 billion sponse activities. rus Relief Fund (CRF) Dec. 30, differences in these approval requirements will pose un- doses in 2021, while Moder- The HEROES Act (H.R. 6800), 2020 deadline, and new fund- processes, the FDA has firmly precedented technological and na is set to produce 20 million as passed by the U.S. House, ing for vaccine development, maintained that EUA approv- logistical challenges to county doses for U.S. distribution by would allocate $187.5 billion in distribution, testing and trac- als for the COVID-19 vaccine, governments and local points the end of the year and up to 1 direct, flexible relief to counties ing and the U.S. Postal Service. a two- to four-week process of dispensing sites, which will billion doses globally in 2021. of all sizes based on population. As Congress considers next on average, will be transparent need to help facilitate travel Distribution of a vaccine will HEROES Act funding could steps on these proposals, and adhere to scientific integ- and storage of vaccines. be resource-intensive for state be used both for tremendous NACo urges county leaders to rity. Additionally, the Pfizer and and local governments and is public health expenditures contact their U.S. Senators and The transparency of the EUA Moderna vaccines, like most likely to strain county budgets. and the catastrophic losses in U.S. Representatives to support approval process is critical to others in development, will Although the CDC has granted county revenue, both of which direct and flexible funding for counties’ ability to create pub- require two doses, further un- states roughly $200 million for are key county priorities in the counties of all sizes. lic confidence in a vaccine. The derscoring the need for supply, vaccine planning purposes, next round of COVID-19 relief. To facilitate this process, information provided will be staffing and technological -re given the logistical and supply Most recently, on Dec. 1, a NACo has multiple, customiz- important to the messaging sources to support these efforts needs, state health officials bipartisan, bicameral group of able advocacy resources avail- strategy employed by county in local communities. have estimated that over $8 bil- legislators unveiled its $908 bil- able at http://www.naco.org/ public health officials who are The FDA has announced that lion will be needed for success- lion coronavirus aid proposal, covid19. responsible for ensuring equi- it has scheduled meetings of its ful distribution of a vaccine. aiming to help break the grid- table vaccine uptake. Vaccines and Related Biolog- Counties are an essential lock on the latest COVID-19 Eryn Hurley is an associate leg- The Pfizer vaccine will need ical Products Advisory Com- component of any vaccine dis- negotiations. This framework islative director in NACo’s Gov- to be stored at the extremely mittee Dec. 10 to discuss the tribution strategy and, as the contains broad objectives for a ernment Affairs department. cool temperature of minus 94 request for EUA of a COVID-19 development of vaccines con- degrees Fahrenheit. While all vaccine from Pfizer and on tinues to progress, support for the vaccines in development Dec. 17 to discuss the Moder- county governments and for will need to be stored at very na vaccine. If granted EUAs, local public health will be crit- cool temperatures, including the two companies are likely ical. Moderna’s, Pfizer’s vaccine to begin rapid distribution of NACo will continue to advo- cate for additional federal aid for counties while also moni- toring, tracking and reporting on COVID-19 vaccine develop- TOP 5 MOST POPULAR CHRISTMAS TREES ment and distribution updates. For more information and re- Balsam Fir sources visit NACo’s COVID-19 Douglas Fir Vaccine Distribution Toolkit: naco.org/covid19/vaccine-dis- Fraser Fir tribution-plans. Scotch Pine Colorado Blaire Bryant is an associate Blue Spruce legislative director and Sarah Gimont is a legislative assistant Source: Farmer’s Almanac in NACo’s Government Affairs department. President Editor and ADVERTISING STAFF Published biweekly except August by: The appearance of paid advertisements in County POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Gary W. Moore Senior Writer Job Market/Classifieds National Association of Counties News in no way implies support or endorsement County News, 660 N. Capitol Street, N.W. Mary Ann Barton by the National Association of Counties for any of Publisher representative Research Foundation, Inc. STE.
Recommended publications
  • Vaccine Infodemiology with Jessica Malaty Rivera Ologies Podcast January 5, 2021
    Vaccine Infodemiology with Jessica Malaty Rivera Ologies Podcast January 5, 2021 Oh hey, it’s your college roommate who used to mix beer into Metamucil, Alie Ward. The vaccine. Vaccines. Covid-19 vaccines. What is the what? Who gets it? What’s in it? How does it work? When can people make out with strangers again? All good questions which we will get to. But first, some thanks up top to everyone at Patreon.com/Ologies for making this show a reality. You can join for one hot dollar a month. And thank you to everyone who has subscribed, and rated, especially reviewed the show, because you know that I read them like a goblin so I can select a freshie each week. And this one, it’s from LittleGlassFox who said: Thank you, Internet Dad (that’s me) for this beautiful piece of Internet art. I am but a chicken nugget in the sweet and sour ocean of knowledge that is in Ologies. Hop in, folks. Let’s get sticky. Okay, vaccine infodemiology. So, infodemiology: it is a real word and it is the science of managing infodemics, which is also a real word. It’s an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not, occurring during an epidemic. Can you even believe that there is the perfect ology for these times and also the perfect Ologist? So, I was waiting for the right time to do another Coronasode and with the vaccines rolling out, I knew we all had questions. So, about four days ago, I all-caps asked this Ologist that day what her afternoon was like and she’s a champ and hopped on the horn.
    [Show full text]
  • President Trump Said He Could
    COVID-19 5/27 UPDATE COVID-19 5/27 Update Global Total cases – 5,644,562 Total deaths – 352,789 United States Total cases – 1,691,342 Total deaths – 99,724 Total # tests – 14,907,041 Administration • President Trump said he could “override” governors who decline to reopen houses of worship in their states in “many different ways,” but did not cite what authority he had to so. o “I can absolutely do it if I want to and I don’t think I’m going to have to because it’s starting to open up,” Trump said Tuesday during a news conference in the White House Rose Garden. o “We need people that are going to be leading us in faith. And we’re opening ‘em up, and if I have to, I will override any governor that wants to play games. If they want to play games, that’s okay, but we will win, and we have many different ways where I can override them,” he continued. o The President also added that "there may be some areas where the pastor or whoever may feel that it’s not quite ready and that’s okay, but let that be the choice of the congregation and the pastor.” • US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency responsible for visa and asylum processing, is expected to furlough part of its workforce this summer if Congress doesn't provide emergency funding to sustain operations during the coronavirus pandemic. o "Unfortunately, as of now, without congressional intervention, the agency will need to administratively furlough a portion of our employees on approximately July 20," USCIS Deputy Director Joseph Edlow for Policy wrote in a letter sent to the workforce on Tuesday.
    [Show full text]
  • GAO-21-265, COVID-19: Critical Vaccine Distribution, Supply Chain, Program Integrity, and Other Challenges Require Focused Feder
    United States Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Committees January 2021 COVID-19 Critical Vaccine Distribution, Supply Chain, Program Integrity, and Other Challenges Require Focused Federal Attention GAO-21-265 www.gao.gov January 2021 COVID-19 Critical Vaccine Distribution, Supply Chain, Program Integrity, and Other Challenges Require Focused Highlights of GAO-21-265, a report to Federal Attention congressional committees Why GAO Did This Study What GAO Found As of January 15, 2021, the U.S. had Since November 2020, the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has rapidly about 23 million cumulative reported increased, further straining health care systems across the country. Between cases of COVID-19 and more than December 31, 2020, and January 13, 2021, new reported COVID-19 cases averaged 387,000 reported deaths, according to about 225,000 per day—over 7 and 3 times higher than the surges the nation the Centers for Disease Control and experienced during the spring and summer of 2020, respectively. (See figure.) The Prevention. The country also continues country also continues to experience serious economic repercussions and turmoil as to experience serious economic a result of the pandemic. As of December 2020, there were more than 10.7 million repercussions. unemployed individuals, compared to nearly 5.8 million individuals at the beginning of the calendar year. Until the country better contains the spread of the virus, the Four relief laws, including the CARES pandemic will likely remain a significant obstacle to more robust economic activity. Act, were enacted as of November 2020 to provide appropriations to Reported COVID-19 Cases per Day in the U.S., Through January 13, 2021 address the public health and economic threats posed by COVID-19.
    [Show full text]
  • N° 14, Juin, Pp
    Enjeux numériques – N°14 – juin 2021 – © Annales des Mines UNE SÉRIE DES ANNALES DES MINES FONDÉES EN 1794 ENJEUX NUMÉRIQUES Série trimestrielle l N°14 - Juin 2021 Rédaction Photo de couverture : Conseil général de l'Économie, Alexej von Jawlensky (1864-1941), Symphony ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de en Rose, huile sur toile, 1929. Stadelsches la Relance Kunstinstitut, Francfort sur le Main. 120, rue de Bercy - Télédoc 797 Photo © Gordon Roberton Photography 75572 PARIS Cedex 12 Archive/ BRIDGEMAN IMAGES Tél. : 01 53 18 52 68 Iconographie http://www.annales.org Christine de Coninck François Valérian Rédacteur en chef Abonnements et ventes COM & COM Gérard Comby Bâtiment Copernic - 20, avenue Édouard- Secrétaire général Herriot Alexia Kappelmann 92350 LE PLESSIS-ROBINSON Secrétaire générale adjointe Sébastien Rodriguez Magali Gimon Tél. : 01 40 94 22 22 - Fax : 01 40 94 22 32 Assistante de rédaction [email protected] Myriam Michaux Webmestre et maquettiste Mise en page : Nadine Namer Impression : EspaceGrafic Membres du Comité de rédaction N° ISSN : 2607-9984 Jean-Pierre Dardayrol Éditeur délégué Président du Comité de rédaction FFE – 15, rue des Sablons - 75116 PARIS www.ffe.fr Edmond Baranes Godefroy Beauvallet Régie publicitaire : Belvédère Com Côme Berbain Fabrication : Yaël Sibony Pierre Bonis Yaë[email protected] Serge Catoire Tél. : 01 53 36 20 46 Directeur de la publicité : Bruno Slama Michel Cosnard Tél. : 01 40 09 66 17 Arnaud de La Fortelle [email protected] Caroline Le Boucher Alban de Nervaux Bertrand Pailhès Le sigle « D. R. » en regard de certaines Grégoire Postel-Vinay illustrations correspond à des documents ou Jacques Serris photographies pour lesquels nos recherches Hélène Serveille d’ayants droit ou d’héritiers se sont avérées infructueuses.
    [Show full text]
  • Documents/Mandatory-Directives
    No. 20A138 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States GATEWAY CITY CHURCH, ET AL., Plaintiffs-Applicants, v. GAVIN NEWSOM, ET AL., Defendants-Respondents. APPENDIX OF RESPONDENTS’ EXHIBITS OFFICE OF THE COUNTY COUNSEL COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA JAMES R. WILLIAMS* County Counsel GRETA S. HANSEN DOUGLAS M. PRESS TONY LOPRESTI MELISSA KINIYALOCTS HANNAH KIESCHNICK 70 West Hedding Street East Wing, Ninth Floor San José, CA 95110-1770 Telephone: (408) 299-5900 [email protected] *Counsel of Record February 24, 2021 Attorneys for Defendants-Respondents County of Santa Clara and Sara H. Cody, MD TABLE OF CONTENTS Exhibit 1: County of Santa Clara Public Health Dep’t, Mandatory Directive for Gatherings (July 14, 2020; last rev’d Feb. 12, 2021), https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Documents/Mandatory-Directives- Gatherings.pdf. Exhibit 2: Declaration of Dr. Sara H. Cody in Support of Defendants County of Santa Clara and Dr. Sara H. Cody’s Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, Gateway City Church v. Newsom, No. 20-cv- 08241-EJD, ECF No. 53-3 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 23, 2020) Exhibit 3: Declaration of Dr. Marc Lipsitch in Support of Defendants County of Santa Clara and Dr. Sara H. Cody’s Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, Gateway City Church v. Newsom, No. 20-cv- 08241-EJD, ECF No. 53-4 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 23, 2020) Exhibit 4: Federal Aviation Administration, Information for Airport Sponsors Considering COVID-19 Restrictions or Accommodations (May 29, 2020), Gateway City Church v. Newsom, No. 20-cv-08241-EJD, ECF No.
    [Show full text]
  • Are There Silver Linings for Biomedical Innovation?
    LESSONS LEARNED FROM COVID-19: Are There Silver Linings for Biomedical Innovation? ESTHER KROFAH AND KRISTIN SCHNEEMAN ABOUT US About the Milken Institute The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank. For the past three decades, the Milken Institute has served as a catalyst for practical, scalable solutions to global challenges by connecting human, financial, and educational resources to those who need them. Guided by a conviction that the best ideas, under-resourced, cannot succeed, we conduct research and analysis and convene top experts, innovators, and influencers from different backgrounds and competing viewpoints. We leverage this expertise and insight to construct programs and policy initiatives. These activities are designed to help people build meaningful lives in which they can experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities. About FasterCures FasterCures, a center of the Milken Institute, is working to build a system that is effective, efficient, and driven by a clear vision: patient needs above all else. We believe that transformative and life- saving science should be fully realized and deliver better treatments to the people who need them. ©2021 Milken Institute This work is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. LESSONS LEARNED FROM COVID-19: ARE THERE SILVER LININGS FOR BIOMEDICAL INNOVATION? Introduction by Michael Milken, Chairman, The Milken Institute Despite enormous human, social, and economic devastation that will forever mark it as a year for the ages, 2020 was also a time of great advances in medical science and public health.
    [Show full text]
  • President Trump's Plan
    OCTOBER 2, 2020 PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PLAN: A WHOLE OF AMERICA RESPONSE STEADFAST LEADERSHIP THROUGH AN UNPRECEDENTED CRISIS STAFF REPORT HOUSE SELECT SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS | MINORITY KEY TAKEAWAYS ✓ President Trump saved thousands of lives by restricting travel from China, Europe, and the United Kingdom early in the pandemic. ✓ President Trump took unprecedented action to harness the full power of the federal government and the private sector to procure and manufacture lifesaving personal protective equipment. ✓ President Trump made the difficult decision to take a targeted and temporary approach to slowing down the economy to save millions of lives. ✓ President Trump built the world’s strongest and most robust testing operation from scratch. ✓ President Trump built the greatest economy in American history before the virus hit and is leading the charge to safely reopen the country and bring all Americans back to work. ✓ President Trump is following the science and defending the health and education of the nation’s children by providing guidance to safely reopen schools. ✓ President Trump is working with experts to bring a vaccine to the American people faster than ever before by cutting unnecessary red tape while ensuring safety and efficacy. ✓ Dr. Anthony Fauci agrees, President Trump’s actions saved American lives. ✓ President Trump has a plan. It is an unparalleled Whole of America response to this pandemic. Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Minority Staff Report 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Key Takeaways ................................................................................................................................2
    [Show full text]
  • COVID Relief Funding for Medicaid Providers
    February 2021 Advising Congress on Medicaid and CHIP Policy COVID Relief Funding for Medicaid Providers The COVID-19 pandemic has created financial strains for many health care providers due to the increased costs of treating patients with virus-related illnesses and decreased revenue from disruptions to the health care delivery system, such as delays in elective procedures and other routine services. Safety-net providers that serve a high share of Medicaid and uninsured patients are particularly vulnerable because prior to the pandemic they often had low operating margins and because Medicaid patients have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.1 In March 2020, Congress created a provider relief fund intended to help cover expenses and lost revenue attributable to COVID-19 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act, P.L. 116-136). In April 2020, Congress enacted the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (P.L. 116-139), which increased the size of the provider relief fund to a combined total of $175 billion. Both Medicare- and Medicaid-enrolled providers are eligible to receive funds, but they have received relief funding at different times and through different processes. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began distributing relief funds to Medicare-enrolled providers automatically in April 2020. It did not begin distributing funding to Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) providers who were not enrolled in Medicare until June 2020.2 This issue brief reviews the distribution of provider relief funds to Medicaid and CHIP providers based on a review of applications submitted as of November 26, 2020 (after the deadline for the most recent general distribution of relief funds).
    [Show full text]
  • COVID-19 and the Carolinas Part IV: State Responses and Federal Legislation to Address the Crisis
    ISSUE BRIEF: COVID-19 and the Carolinas Part IV: State Responses and Federal Legislation to Address the Crisis APRIL 2021 On March 11, the country marked one Case Rates in the Carolinas year since the COVID-19 crisis was COVID-19 cases peaked in January 2021, and infections declared a pandemic. Over half a million have steadily decreased through February and March. Americans have died from the virus in Percent positive rates have also decreased across that that time with millions more experiencing time period. In North Carolina, the 7-day moving average economic, educational, social, and other of positive tests was 4.9% on March 18, down from 1 health consequences. Over the past year, double-digit highs in January. South Carolina’s 30-day average positivity rate was 5.3% as of March 21, down the North Carolina Institute of Medicine from a high in the thirties in January.a,2 and South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health have monitored state Figures 1 and 2 show the recent plateau in new cases and and federal actions to address the decrease in hospitalizations, respectively. It is important pandemic. This issue brief is the fourth to note that due to North Carolina’s larger population, case numbers are inherently larger in that state. North and final in our series tracking the effects Carolina’s case rate was 85,360 per million residents of these actions in the Carolinas. and South Carolina’s 105,188 per million residents as of March 22, 2021.3 a The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) changed the method of calculating the percent positive rate beginning on February 2, 2021.
    [Show full text]
  • Infrastructure for Testing and Contact Tracing
    April 29, 2020 Director Robert R. Redfield Secretary Alex M. Azar II Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 1600 Clifton Road, 200 Independence Avenue S.W. Atlanta, GA 30329 Washington, D.C., 20201 Vice President Mike Pence Adm. Brett P. Giroir, M.D. White House Coronavirus Task Force Assistant Secretary for Health, HHS 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Testing Czar, White House Coronavirus Task Force Washington, DC 20502 Washington, D.C. Dear Director Redfield, Secretary Azar, Adm. Giroir, and Vice President Pence: Until a vaccine or viable treatment strategy is developed, ongoing testing, isolation, monitoring, and contact tracing is necessary to contain the epidemic, prevent future spikes, and reopen the economy. Despite the surge in private lab capacity and work by our local public health professionals, we have not built up sufficient testing and contact tracing capabilities to adequately manage the novel coronavirus. The actual number of Americans who have been exposed to or infected with the coronavirus is unknown because of the insufficient testing infrastructure. Testing not only allows for diagnosis and treatment, but also establishes how widespread a virus is. When public health experts know the size of the problem, they can analyze the rate at which people are hospitalized or die, and can follow its movements, making recommendations to policymakers on best management practices.i CDC does not publicly share comprehensive testing data despite the requirement in Families First Coronavirus Response Act that gave CDC access to that data.ii Instead, Americans, including policymakers, are relying on the volunteer heroism of The COVID Tracking Project to access daily testing information, rather than the appropriate primary source, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.iii Of those who do get tested for the coronavirus in the United States, nearly one in five people is found to have it.
    [Show full text]
  • The United States' Response to COVID-19: a Case Study
    The United States’ Response to COVID-19: A Case Study CHAIR CASE STUDY COMMITTEE Ari Hoffman, MD Associate Professor of Clinical Jaime Sepúlveda, MD, MPH, Dean Jamison, PhD, MS Medicine, Department of Medicine, MSc, DrSc Edward A Clarkson Professor, University of California, San Executive Director, Institute for Emeritus, Institute for Global Health Francisco; Affiliated Faculty, Philip Global Health Sciences, University Sciences, University of California, R. Lee Institute for Health Policy of California, San Francisco; Haile San Francisco Studies T. Debas Distinguished Professor of Carlos del Rio, MD Global Health, Institute for Global Andrew Kim, MD, MPhil Distinguished Professor of Health Sciences, University of Resident Physician in Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious California, San Francisco Medicine, School of Medicine, Diseases and Executive Associate University of California, San Dean at Grady Hospital, Emory Francisco University School of Medicine; AUTHORS Professor of Epidemiology and Jane Fieldhouse, MS Neelam Sekhri Feachem, MHA Global Health, Rollins School of Doctoral Student in Global Health, Associate Professor, Institute for Public Health of Emory University Institute for Global Health Sciences, Global Health Sciences, University University of California, San Jeremy Alberga, MA of California, San Francisco Francisco Director of Program Development Kelly Sanders, MD, MS and Strategy, Institute for Global Sarah Gallalee, MPH Technical Lead, Pandemic Health Sciences, University of Doctoral Student in Global Health,
    [Show full text]
  • Tracking COVID-19: U.S. Public Health Surveillance and Data
    Tracking COVID-19: U.S. Public Health Surveillance and Data November 2, 2020 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R46588 SUMMARY R46588 Tracking COVID-19: U.S. Public Health November 2, 2020 Surveillance and Data Kavya Sekar Public health surveillance, or ongoing data collection, is an essential part of public health Analyst in Health Policy practice. Particularly during a pandemic, timely data are important to understanding the epidemiology of a disease in order to craft policy and guide response decisionmaking. Many Angela Napili aspects of public health surveillance—such as which data are collected and how—are often Senior Research Librarian governed by law and policy at the state and subfederal level, though informed by programs and expertise at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed limitations and challenges with U.S. public health surveillance, including those related to the timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of data. This report provides an overview of U.S. public health surveillance, current COVID-19 surveillance and data collection, and selected policy issues that have been highlighted by the pandemic. Appendix B includes a compilation of selected COVID-19 data resources. Current COVID-19 Surveillance and Data Collection CDC’s COVID-19 surveillance involves numerous surveillance systems that collect a variety of data, including on cases, testing positivity rates, hospitalizations, deaths, and emergency department visits. The multiple systems reflect an effort by CDC to strike a balance in surveillance—collecting different data types, with different measurement-related strengths and weaknesses that together can provide a picture of how the pandemic is affecting different populations in different locations.
    [Show full text]