COVID-19 Compilation – May 11, 2020 Courtesy of Cornerstone Government Affairs 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), United States 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) Washington, D.C. • The White House has directed West Wing staff to wear masks/face coverings after at least two aides tested positive for COVID-19. • Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Drs. Tony Fauci and Robert Redfield, and FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn are all self-isolating. Tomorrow's Senate HELP Committee hearing will still take place, but each of the aforementioned individuals will join virtually. • HUD Sec. Ben Carson announced the allocation of $1 billion in CARES Act funding through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. You can view the allocation formula here. • COVID-19 hearings in Congress this week (memos will be available upon request): o Tuesday (5/12) . 10:00 AM – Senate HELP Hearing: "COVID-19: Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School" . 2:30 PM – Senate Judiciary Hearing: “Examining liability during the COVID-19 pandemic” o Wednesday (5/13) . 10:00 AM – Senate Commerce Hearing: "The State of Broadband Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic" o Thursday (5/14) . 10:00 AM – House Energy and Commerce Hearing: “Protecting Scientific Integrity in the COVID-19 Response” • The CDC remained busy through the weekend, updating and publishing additional documents on its dashboard. Today, the CDC published updated information about SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology and Surveillance (SPHERES), guidance on when to wear gloves and running essential errands, and a list of factors to consider when planning to purchase respirators from another country. These are just a sampling of the many updates made each day by the CDC. • CMS updated a video that answers FAQ about the expanded Medicare telehealth services benefit. New information includes how CMS adds items to the list of telehealth services, additional practitioners that can provide telehealth services, and the distant site services that Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) can provide. Further, the video includes information about audio-only telehealth services, telehealth services that hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies can provide, along with how to correctly bill for telehealth services. • The FDA issued the first EUA for a COVID-19 antigen test, which is a new category of diagnostic tests that quickly detect fragments of proteins found on the virus by testing samples collected from the nasal cavity using swabs. • Democrats are still hoping to introduce a "COVID IV"/CARES 2.0 bill within the week. Whatever text is introduced will likely face weeks of negotiations before a vote would take place in the Senate. For a more in-depth briefing on the legislative landscape, please refer to the COVID-19 Legislative Update, which is published on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. If you do not receive the Legislative Update and would like to subscribe, email [email protected] Updates from the States • Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 1,324,488 total cases and 79,756 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. • Led by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) the members of the Western States Pact - California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Nevada - wrote a letter to House and Senate leadership asking for $1 trillion in aid to help deal with the financial effects of COVID-19. • Connecticut's Office of Early Childhood announced that summer camps in the state will be able to reopen on June 29th with strict public health guidelines. • The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and Bloomberg Philanthropies, in partnership with New York state launched an online course to train contact tracers. • Updates on lockdowns/reopening: o Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) announced he will be lifting his state's stay-at-home order on Friday and moving to Phase One of reopening, which allows for most businesses to reopen at 25 percent capacity. o New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced three upstate regions - the Finger Lakes, the Southern Tier, and Mohawk Valley - have met the required reopening metrics and will be allowed to partially reopen this weekend. o Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) released a four-phase approach to reopening his state's economy planned for May 18th, and published Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards for all industries once reopening begins. o Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) outlined consequences for counties and restaurants that do not abide by his reopening plan, including the withholding of federal stimulus funds and the revocation of liquor licenses. o South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) announced that close contact service providers, fitness and exercise centers, commercial gyms, and public or commercial pools will be able to open in a limited capacity on Monday, May 18th. o Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) announced that restaurants can reopen outdoor dining areas beginning May 18th. o West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) released the schedule for additional reopenings that allows for opening of restaurants, retail stores, and outdoor recreation areas on May 21st. • Useful state data: o The NYT is tracking which states are reopening and which are still shut down. o These charts show cumulative coronavirus cases and deaths for metropolitan areas over time. 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, social distancing 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 • Lockheed Martin, DoD’s largest contractor, announced it has met its goal of accelerating $450 million to its supply chain as the company receives increased progress payments from the Pentagon. o Raytheon Technologies has accelerated $350 million to its supply chain, while BAE Systems has accelerated nearly $100 million. • Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on the VA to provide more information on its use of hydroxychloroquine on veterans with COVID-19. o VA Secretary Robert Wilkie has denied that veterans were used as test subjects for the drug but declined to provide details on VA guidance and how widely the drug was used. • VA officials warned that preliminary testing data has shown African American and Hispanic veterans are testing positive for COVID-19 at higher rates than other veterans. • Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday will quarantine this week after interacting with a family member who tested positive for COVID-19. o Chief of the National Guard Bureau Air Force Gen. Joseph Lengyel tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend. • DoD’s inspector general will evaluate the Navy’s infectious disease policies following two recent COVID-19 outbreaks aboard warships at sea. International Affairs • Global COVID-19 cases have topped 4 million. • New clusters of COVID-19 have been reported in Wuhan, China. Authorities reported five new cases today, following a case on Sunday which was the first to be reported since early April. • Germany has begun lifting restrictions, but Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear that an ''emergency brake'' will be applied anywhere in the country that exhibits a surge in new infections. • Russia will begin easing lockdown measures tomorrow, despite a growing number of cases in the country. President Vladimir Putin has said the "non- working period" is over, but that mayors and regional leaders can still impose local restrictions. • Starting yesterday in Belgium, people living in the same household are allowed to have up to four people visit their home, but those four people will not be allowed to visit anywhere else. • In France, residents no longer have to provide travel certificates for trips within a radius of up to 100km from home. Longer trips will still require a certificate and, during the rush-hour in Paris, an employer's authorization or a "compelling reason to travel" will be required. • Multiple countries, including Italy, Ireland, and Spain, have closed schools until September. • Global Cases: 4,006,257 Total Deaths: 278,892 Lifestyle, Science, and Economy • Facebook and Google both announced late last week that employees will be able to work from home through the end of the year. Some employees will be asked to go in once offices reopen in the coming months, but the majority will be encouraged to stay home. • Some companies have started sending out screening surveys (like this one from Ford) before allowing employees to return to work.