COVID-19 Update: May 26, 2020

Coronavirus update for Tuesday, May 26 as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

The Wolf Administration

Last Friday Governor Wolf announced that eight more counties would move to the yellow phase of reopening on May 29; 17 counties that were already in the yellow phase would move to green that same day; and the remaining counties still in the red phase would move to yellow on June 5. That latter group includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.

Department of Health

Late last Friday the department announced that on the previous day it shipped 8928 doses of remdesivir to 81 Pennsylvania hospitals. This news release is the announcement and it includes a link to a list of the recipient hospitals.
The department updated its guidance for hospitals to clarify that the requirement to test patients for COVID-19 infection prior to discharge to a long-term-care facility applies only to inpatients of the hospital. In addition, hospitals’ visitor policies cannot deny access to an attendant, caregiver, or family member of a patient who has an intellectual, developmental, or cognitive disability, communication barrier, or behavioral concerns.
The department updated its guidance for ambulatory surgical facilities to reflect the requirement that ambulatory surgical facilities with their own COVID-19 laboratory testing report those test results, whether positive or negative, through PA-NEDSS.

Department of Health – by the numbers

The department reported that the number of new COVID-19 cases over the holiday weekend remained modest by the standard of recent weeks and fell under 500 a day for the past two days.
The new daily death totals fell significantly over the holiday weekend, from more than 100 a day for several days last week to just 56 over the last three days combined.
551 Pennsylvanians have now tested positive on serology tests.
More than 17,000 residents and employees of 594 long-term-care facilities have now tested positive for COVID-19.
As have more than 5100 health care workers.
As of today, 1628 Pennsylvanians are hospitalized for COVID-19.
320 of them are on ventilators and 16 are undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
45 percent of state hospitals’ acute-care beds, 38 percent of its adult ICU beds, and 24 percent of its pediatric ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 53 percent of their isolation rooms.

Department of Human Services

DHS’s Office of Children, Youth and Families has issued guidance regarding the suspension of regulatory requirements for its licensees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recipients of the guidance include county children and youth agencies, private children and youth social services agencies, family foster care agencies, adoption services agencies, child residential and day treatment facilities, and child welfare service providers.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services

HHS has submitted its required report to Congress detailing its COVID-19 strategic testing plan.
HHS announced a 45-day extension for providers that are receiving grants from the CARES Act’s Provider Relief Fund to accept the terms and conditions for those payments. This means providers have now been granted 90 days from the date they received a payment to accept the terms and conditions or return the money.
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, has announced that a presentation from and a recording of its webcast on “Funding Sources for the Establishment and Operationalization of Alternate Care Sites” are now available. Find them here.
HHS announced $400 million in payments from the CARES Act’s Provider Relief Fund to Indian Health Services and tribal hospitals, clinics, and urban health centers to support the tribal response to COVID-19.

Department of Health and Human Services/Office of the Inspector General

HHS’s Office of the Inspector General has announced the release of its strategic plan for oversight of the COVID-19 response and recovery. Go here for the announcement and here to see the plan itself.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The CDC has updated its COVID-19 transmission web page to clarify information about the different types of spread of the virus.
The CDC has updated its web page on evaluating and reporting persons under investigation for COVID-19.
The CDC has posted information about a new laboratory test kit it has developed for use in testing patients for COVID-19.
The CDC has updated its FAQ on COVID-19 and children.
The CDC has updated its web page about serology testing for COVID-19.
The CDC has updated its interim guidelines for COVID-19 antibody testing in clinical and public health settings.
The CDC has posted information about steps health care facilities can take now to prepare for COVID-19.

Food and Drug Administration

The FDA has updated its FAQ on testing for COVID-19.
The FDA has approved emergency use authorizations for three new commercial diagnostic tests for COVID-19. Find them here, here, and here.
The FDA has posted a notice to manufacturers of gowns and other apparel, health care personnel, hospital purchasing departments and distributors, and other stakeholders listing currently authorized equipment, requirements it is waiving when considering issuing emergency use authorizations, and outlining the standards it considers when determining whether to issue such authorizations for new gowns and apparel.

National Institutes of Health

The NIH has issued a media advisory sharing the preliminary results of peer-reviewed data from clinical trials to test the effectiveness of remdesivir for treating COVID-19. A more detailed preliminary report also can be found in the New England Journal of Medicine.