COVID-19 Update: May 21, 2020

Coronavirus update for Thursday, May 21 as of 3:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Department of Health

The Department of Health has issued revised guidance for home care agencies, home health agencies, and hospices during the COVID-19 emergency.

Department of Health – Daily Briefing

Pennsylvania’s new COVID-19 case count remains under 1000 a day but its death count remains more than 100 a day.
More than 14,000 residents of long-term-care facilities and more than 2300 employees of such facilities have contracted COVID-19 and such facilities account for two-thirds of all COVID-19 deaths in the state.
Nearly 5000 health care workers have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Secretary Levine reported that the state now has about 300 testing sites that performed more than 13,000 tests yesterday. Testing capacity continues to improve.
The state now has two confirmed cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and several other unconfirmed cases. The one pediatric COVID-19 death the state has experienced did not involve MIS-C.
Secretary Levine reported that the counties in southwestern Pennsylvania that are now in the yellow phase are doing well.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services

HHS has again updated its CARES Act Provider Relief Fund FAQ.
HHS has announced that it is collaborating with Astra Zeneca to make available at least 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine called AZD1222, with the first doses delivered as early as October of this year.
HHS has notified skilled nursing facilities of its intent to distribute additional Provider Relief Fund grants to them. According to email communication directly from HHS to those providers, “Each SNF will receive a fixed distribution of $50,000, plus a variable distribution ranging between $2,000 per bed for the smallest SNFs (between 5 and 25 beds) and $1,800 per bed for the largest SNFs (more than 200 beds).”
HHS has issued an advisory opinion stating that the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act preempts state licensing laws that restrict the ability of pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 diagnostic tests where HHS has authorized pharmacists to order and administer such tests.
HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has established a new web page featuring its portfolio of COVID-19 medical countermeasures under investigation.
HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response also has created a new web page that specifically addresses remdesivir.
ASPR TRACIE, sponsored by HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to provide Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE) services, will hold a webinar on ensuring health care safety throughout the COVID-19 pandemic on June 2.
ASPR TRACIE has posted a health care facility onboarding checklist to help hospitals and other faculties streamline staff acquisition and onboarding in times of need.
ASPR TRACIE has introduced behavioral health guidance and resources for preventing and addressing moral injury affecting health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The CDC updated its instructions to laboratories on how to report their COVID-19 lab data.
The CDC updated its FAQ for laboratories on COVID-19.
The CDC updated its web page with resources for laboratories working on COVID-19.
The CDC has updated its interim clinical guidance for management of patients with confirmed COVID-19.
The CDC has updated its FAQ on COVID-19 infection and prevention control in health care settings.
The CDC has updated its interim considerations for infection prevention and control of COVID-19 in inpatient obstetric care settings.
The CDC has updated its COVID-19 contact tracing training guidance and resources.
The CDC has updated its web page with strategies for long-term-care facilities.

Food and Drug Administration

The FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for an airway management isolation chamber to be used by military health care providers as an extra layer of barrier protection to prevent exposure to pathogenic biological airborne particulates during transport of patients at the time of definitive airway management or when performing medical procedures on such patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FDA has issued an EUA for use of a continuous renal replacement therapy to treat patients with renal failure, fluid overload, or both in an acute-care environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FDA issued an EUA for a specific commercial COVID-19 diagnostic test.
The FDA has removed from its list of available serology tests 27 individual tests because their sponsors did not meet additional filing requirements or problems arose with the tests. (Scroll down to the question about removed serology tests).