Coronavirus update for Wednesday, June 17 as of 4:00 p.m.

A Note About SNAP’s COVID-19 Updates

Beginning the week of June 15, SNAP will prepare COVID-19 updates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with additional updates as needed on subjects that are especially timely or important.  SNAP members and update subscribers will continue to receive their updates near the close of the business day and those updates will continue to be posted in this space the following morning.

Pennsylvania Update

The Courts

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed today to hear a lawsuit filed by Senate Republicans against  Governor Wolf seeking to enforce a resolution adopted by the General Assembly last week requiring the governor to end the COVID-19 disaster emergency proclamation that he enacted in March and extended for another ninety days on June 1.  The suit was originally filed in Commonwealth Court.

Department of Health

In communication circulated via message board but not posted on any department web site, the Department of Health explained the following:

The Department has received questions and is concerned that there are laboratories marketing their ability to run tests who are not certified in Pennsylvania.

Per the Order of the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health Directing Testing at Skilled Nursing Facilities, issued June 8, 2020, Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) are required to complete a baseline universal test for SARS-CoV-2 of all residents and staff no later than July 24, 2020. In order to be compliant with this Order, a facility needs to enter into a contract with a commercial laboratory to meet testing needs of the facility. A laboratory must have a current Pennsylvania laboratory permit and be approved to perform COVID-19 testing.

A list of laboratories that have a CLIA permit in Pennsylvania can be found here.

Department of Health – by the numbers

• Case counts and death totals remain generally down and declining
• 788 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, with 169 of them on ventilators.
• 40 percent of Pennsylvania hospitals’ acute-care beds are currently unoccupied, as are 39 percent of their ICU beds, 30 percent of their pediatric ICU beds, and 17 percent of their isolation rooms.

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at   info@pasafetynet.org.)

Coronavirus update for Friday, June 12 as of 4:00 p.m.

A Note About SNAP’s COVID-19 Updates

Beginning the week of June 15, SNAP will prepare COVID-19 updates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with additional updates as needed on subjects that are especially timely or important.  SNAP members and update subscribers will continue to receive their updates near the close of the business day and those updates will continue to be posted in this space the following morning.

Pennsylvania Update

The Wolf Administration

Governor Wolf and Secretary of Health Levine signed amended green phase orders for 12 counties to move to the green phase of reopening at 12:01 a.m. on June 12.  With these orders taking effect, there will be 46 counties in green and 21 counties in yellow.

In addition, eight more counties will move to the green phase of reopening at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, June 19.

Department of Human Services

DHS has published a Medical Assistance Bulletin advising providers that they may not charge Medical Assistance beneficiaries for personal protective equipment used in connection with medical or dental services.

Department of Health – by the numbers

• Today’s COVID-19 death count is comparable to what it has been in recent days but the new case count is up slightly.
• 901 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 and 195 of them are on ventilators – both figures much lower than yesterday’s.
• 40 percent of state hospitals’ acute-care beds, 40 percent of their ICU beds, 57 percent of their pediatric beds, and 30 percent of their pediatric ICU beds are currently unoccupied.

State Legislature

The Senate has canceled its session for next week.  The House is scheduled to return to session on June 22.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services

• As we reported previously, HHS will be distributing $10 billion in CARES Act Provider Relief Fund grants to hospitals that have served especially large numbers of COVID-19 patients. To apply for these grants, hospitals must submit data to HHS via its teletracking web site.  See below for:
  • information about the Provider Relief Fund and the grants to high-impact hospitals;
  • an FAQ about the grants and the data to be submitted; and
  • where to submit the data.

Hospitals must submit their data no later than 9:00 pm (eastern) on Monday, June 15.

• HHS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance on how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy rule permits covered health care providers to contact their patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to inform them about how they can donate their blood and plasma containing antibodies to help other patients with COVID-19. See the announcement here and the guidance here.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

In the past week CMS issued five section 1135 waivers to give states greater flexibility to serve their Medicaid beneficiaries during the COVID-19 public health emergency.  It issued waivers to Delaware, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

Food and Drug Administration

• The FDA posted FAQs to address questions about the design, evaluation, labeling, and marketing of hospital beds, stretchers, and mattresses during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
• The FDA issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for four new commercial diagnostic tests for COVID-19. Find them here, here, here, and here.
• The FDA issued an EUA for a new serology test for COVID-19. Find it here.

National Institutes of Health

NIH’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities is accepting applications for research to evaluate interventions that might lessen the impact of COVID-19 on populations that suffer from health disparities or other vulnerabilities to the virus.  Learn more here.

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at   info@pasafetynet.org.)

Coronavirus update for Wednesday, June 10 as of 3:00 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

General Assembly

This week the General Assembly passed a concurrent resolution that seeks to end the governor’s COVID-19 emergency disaster declaration; on June 4 the governor extended that declaration for an additional 90 days.  During a press conference today, Governor Wolf said he will defend in court his right to veto the resolution.  The measure’s proponents believe the resolution, having passed both chambers, is effective and does not require the governor’s consideration.

Department of Health

The Department of Health has issued an order requiring hospitals to implement measures to protect their staff and patients.  The policies and procedures must, at a minimum, include distribution of respirators to hospital staff providing direct patient care to COVID-19-positive and suspected cases and hospital staff assigned to provide direct patient care in COVID-19 units.  Respirator distribution must occur prior to the beginning of the hospital staff member’s shift and respirators must be replaced as soon as practical if the hospital is notified by a staff member that their mask has become soiled, damaged, or otherwise ineffective.  The policies and procedures also must include access to testing upon request for staff members who have been exposed to patients with or suspected of having COVID-19, measures for notifying staff members who have been in contact with such patients, and a requirement that all hospital visitors over the age of two wear masks.  See a news release summarizing the order here.

Department of Health – by the numbers

• Today’s new COVID-19 case and death counts are comparable to what they have been in recent days.
• More than 5800 Pennsylvania health care workers have contracted COVID-19.
• 986 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 and 206 of them are on ventilators.
• 40 percent of state hospitals’ acute-care beds, 39 percent of their ICU beds, 57 percent of their pediatric beds, and 30 percent of their pediatric ICU beds are currently unoccupied.

Department of Human Services

CMS has approved a section 1135 waiver request from DHS’s Office of Medical Assistance Programs.  The waiver permits the state to temporarily allow payments for section 1905(a) personal care services to be rendered by legally responsible individuals and gives the state the ability to modify deadlines for face-to-face encounters required for home health services.  These waivers will remain in effect until the official end of the current public health emergency.

DHS’s Office of Medical Assistance Programs has written to local education agencies participating in its School-Based ACCESS Program to inform them of temporary flexibilities in the program’s usual practices and requirements that it has authorized in response to the COVID-19 emergency.

DHS’s Office of Developmental Programs has published an announcement that provides additional guidance to individual support planning teams on the criteria for requesting a cap exception for the Person/Family Directed Support and Community Living Waivers.  It also has posted a  template for applying for such waivers.

Federal Update

Department of Health and Human Services

On Tuesday HHS announced that it will be distributing $15 billion to clinicians and facilities that participate in state Medicaid and CHIP programs and/or Medicaid and CHIP managed care organizations that have not yet received any general distribution grants from the Provider Relief Fund.

This funding is intended to supply relief to Medicaid and CHIP providers experiencing lost revenues or increased expenses due to COVID-19.  Examples of providers serving Medicaid/CHIP beneficiaries that may be eligible for this funding include pediatricians, obstetrician-gynecologists, dentists, opioid treatment and behavioral health providers, assisted living facilities, and other home and community-based services providers.

Providers that believe they may be eligible for this funding may submit their annual patient revenue information to a new provider relief portal to seek a distribution equal to at least two percent of their reported gross revenues from patient care; that portal is supposed to be established today but was not up at the time this update was written.

Learn more from:

• HHS’s news release announcing this distribution;
• its Provider Relief Fund web page;
• its Provider Relief Fund general information page; and
• its CARES Act Provider Relief Fund FAQ, which has been updated more than two dozen times in the past 48 hours to reflect changes related to yesterday’s announced distributions (additions and modifications are marked within this FAQ).

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

• CMS has published recommendations for health care providers reopening facilities to provide non-emergency non-COVID-19 services.
• CMS has published a guide with information about what patients should know about seeking health care as health care providers begin restoring services.

Food and Drug Administration

• The FDA approved an abbreviated new drug application for succinylcholine chloride injection USP 200 mg/10 mL, which is indicated in addition to general anesthesia to facilitate tracheal intubation and to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or mechanical ventilation.
• The FDA has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 diagnostic test using next generation sequence technology.
• The FDA has issued an EUA for a new commercial diagnostic test for COVID-19.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• The CDC has updated its brochure on the use of personal protective equipment when caring for patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.
• The CDC has updated its resources for laboratories.
• The CDC has updated its FAQ about COVID-19 for laboratories.
• The CDC has updated its guidance for health care facilities with recommendations and resources.

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at   info@pasafetynet.org.)

Coronavirus update for Monday, June 8 as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

The Wolf Administration

• The Wolf administration announced the launch of an enhanced dashboard with data on COVID-19 in the state. Find the announcement here and the dashboard here.
• The Wolf administration has issued a universal testing order requiring all nursing homes to complete initial baseline testing no later than July 24. It also published updated testing guidance to all long-term-care facilities in the state.  See the announcement here, the nursing home testing order here, and the guidance for long-term-care facilities here.  Also released today as part of this initiative:  requirements for testing of residents and staff in skilled nursing facilities and an FAQ about these requirements.
• The Wolf administration announced that the Public Health Management Corporation will become the state’s health care emergency preparedness vendor as of July 8.

Department of Health – by the numbers

• The weekend’s COVID-19 new case count continued its downward trend while the death count declined significantly.
• More than 5700 health care workers have contracted COVID-19.
• 1174 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and 257 of them are on ventilators.
• The state has seen 20 confirmed cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Another 14 possible cases are currently being investigated.

Federal Update

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CMS has updated its “COVID-19 Emergency Declaration Blanket Waivers for Health Care Providers” document.  Added since the last version are a new section, on page 14, on altered time lines for Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, along with two modifications:  one on page 10, addressing site-neutral payments for long-term care hospitals, and another on page 13, in support of care for patients in long-term care hospital patients.

CMS – Stakeholder Engagement Calls

CMS hosts recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related to the agency’s response to COVID-19.  These sessions are open to members of the health care community and are intended to provide updates, share best practices among peers, and offer attendees an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts.  Conference lines are limited so CMS encourages interested parties to join via audio webcast.

Calls recordings and transcripts are posted on the CMS podcast page here.

COVID-19 Office Hours Call

Office Hour Calls provide an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, and providers to ask questions of agency officials regarding CMS’s temporary actions that empower local hospitals and health care systems to increase hospital capacity, expand their workforce, and make greater use of telehealth.

Tuesday, June 9 at 5:00 (eastern)

Toll Free Attendee Dial In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 4892554

Audio Webcast link:  Go here.

COVID Home Health and Hospice Call

Tuesday, June 9 at 3:00 – 3:30 PM (eastern)

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 7359947

Audio Webcast Link:  Go here.

COVID Nursing Homes Call

Wednesday, June 10 at 4:30 (eastern)

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 9782909

Audio Webcast Link:  Go here.

COVID Dialysis Organizations Call

Wednesday, June 10 at 5:30 (eastern)

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 6553907

Audio Webcast Link:  Go here.

COVID Nurses Call

Thursday, June 11 at 3:00 (eastern)

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In:  833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 2863547

Audio Webcast Link: Go here.

Food and Drug Administration

• On Tuesday, June 9 at noon (eastern), the FDA will hold a webinar about emergency use authorizations for respirators, importing respirators, and more. Learn more about the webinar here.
• The FDA is reissuing certain EUAs to specify which respirators are appropriate for decontamination and reuse.
• The FDA has issued EUAs for two new commercial diagnostic tests for COVID-19. Find them here and here.
• The FDA has issued an EUA for a new commercial serology test for COVID-19.
• The FDA has published its temporary policy on prescription drug marketing act requirements for the distribution of drug samples during the COVID-19 emergency.

National Institutes of Health

The NIH has issued a news release describing a study that identifies a potential approach to treating severe respiratory distress in patients with COVID-19.

Congressional Research Service

The Congressional Research Service has published a brief new report called “HIPAA, Telehealth, and COVID-19” that takes a high level look at the interplay among these three considerations from a legal perspective.

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)

Coronavirus update for Friday, June 5 as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

Department of Health

The Department of Health and Department of Human Services have issued issued guidance for nursing homes, personal care homes, and other long-term and congregate care facilities as counties enter the green phase of reopening.  To prevent further COVID-19 outbreaks within these vulnerable populations, continuing restrictions in long-term and congregate care facilities will remain in place at least 28 days after an individual facility’s county enters the green phase.  Go here to see the Wolf administration’s announcement, here to see the guidance for nursing homes, and here to see the guidance for personal care homes, intermediate care facilities, assisted living residences, and other providers licensed by DHS.

Department of Health – by the numbers

• Yesterday’s new case and death totals were slightly lower than those of the previous day.
• The number of health care workers who have contracted COVID-19 now exceeds 5600.
• 1174 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and 257 of them are on ventilators – the same figures as the previous day.
• 45 percent of acute-care beds, 38 percent of ICU beds, and 24 percent of pediatric ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 53 percent of hospital isolation rooms.

Federal Update

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

In the past week CMS issued six section 1135 waiversto give states greater flexibility to serve their Medicaid beneficiaries during the COVID-19 public health emergency.  It issued waivers to Alaska (two waivers), Arizona, Mississippi, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• The CDC has updated its guidance on recommendations for people who believe they have been exposed to people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 when the people to whom they have been exposed are neither health care workers nor critical infrastructure workers – that is, possible community transmission of COVID-19.
• The CDC has updated its FAQ on laboratory biosafety and COVID-19.
• The CDC has updated its guidance for the collection and submission of postmortem specimens from deceased persons under investigation for COVID-19, including recommendations for biosafety and infection control practices during specimen collection and handling, including during autopsy procedures.

Food and Drug Administration

• The FDA approved an abbreviated new drug application for dexmedetomidine hydrochloride in 0.9% sodium chloride injection (ANDA 209307), indicated for sedation of initially intubated and mechanically ventilated patients during treatment in an intensive-care setting.
• The FDA issued a letter to clinical laboratory staff and health care providers about a safety risk with using transport media and SARS-CoV-2 testing platforms that are not compatible. There is a risk of exposure to harmful cyanide gas when certain transport media are used with an incompatible testing platform or laboratory process that uses bleach.
• The FDA has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a new test to assist in identifying severe inflammatory response in patients with confirmed COVID-19 illness to aid in determining the risk of intubation with mechanical ventilation. Find that EUA here and go here for an FDA fact sheet on the known and potential risks and benefits of this test.
• On Tuesday, June 9 at 12:00 p.m. (eastern), the FDA will launch a webinar series on the topic of Respirators for Health Care Personnel Use during COVID-19 Pandemic. The webinar will provide FDA information and answer questions about emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for respirators, importing respirators, and overall FDA actions to help ensure that health care personnel on the front lines have the necessary supplies of respirators to meet the demand. Go here for further information.
• The FDA has updated its enforcement policy for non-invasive remote monitoring devices used to support patient monitoring during the COVID-19 emergency.
• The FDA has posted test performance data from four more serology test kits from its independent performance validation study.
• The FDA has issued an EUA for a new commercial serology test for COVID-19. Find it here.
• The FDA has issued an EUA for a new commercial test to diagnose COVID-19. Find it here.

Resources to Consult

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services

Main COVID-19 Page

COVID-19 Provider Resources

Press Releases

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Main COVID-19 Page

PA Health Alert Network

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Main COVID-19 Page

FAQ

(To receive this daily update directly, sign up for our mailing list at  info@pasafetynet.org.)