The following is the latest coronavirus information from Pennsylvania’s state government as of 1:30 p.m. on Friday, September 18.

The Courts

A federal court has ruled that parts of Governor Wolf’s orders closing down aspects of life and commerce in the state in response to the COVID-19 emergency were unconstitutional.  Find the entire court decision in this Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article that also summarizes the decision, its implications, and reactions to it.

Governor Wolf

Governor Wolf called on the General Assembly to provide an additional $225 million in CARES Act funding for the state’s COVID-19 hazard pay program to support front-line workers risking their health to continue working in life-sustaining industries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Department of Health

• The Department of Health has issued guidance for individuals who have had close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
• Following up on its guidance released last week on compassionate care access to skilled nursing facilities, the Department of Health has posted a fact sheet on compassionate care, a comparison between regular visiting and compassionate care visiting, and an infographic showing these differences.
• The Department of Health issued a health alert providing recommendations and considerations for point-of-care antigen testing in nursing homes.

Department of Health – by the numbers

• This week’s joint news release from Governor Wolf and the Department of Health revealed that during the week of September 4 to September 10 the number of new COVID-19 cases fell 8.9 percent but the state-wide rate of positive tests rose from 4.0 to 4.2 percent.
• Counties with especially high positivity rates are Columbia (13.4 percent), Indiana (10.7 percent), Juniata (10.3 percent), and Centre (9.2 percent), and these are also the counties the state believes are experiencing the highest rate of community transmission.
• For the past week the number of daily cases has differed significantly from day to day, from some of the state’s highest to some of its lowest numbers in the past six weeks.
• The continued high numbers are driven in large part by major increases in the number of young people between the ages of 19 and 24 who are contracting COVID-19.  In southeastern Pennsylvania, for example, nearly five percent of COVID-19 cases fell in this age group in April; in September so far, that number has risen to nearly 32 percent.  The trends are similar in other parts of the state except in the north central part of the state, where the proportion of 19-24-year-olds contracting COVID-19 rose from seven percent of cases in April to 71 percent this month so far, and in northeastern Pennsylvania, where the number of people in this age group diagnosed with COVID-19 rose from six percent of that region’s total in April to 39 percent in September.
• Despite this, the number of Pennsylvanians currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and the number of such patients breathing with the help of a ventilator are lower than they have been since the spring of 2020.
• More than 10,200 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.
• 20 percent of the beds in Pennsylvania’s acute-care hospitals are currently unoccupied, as are  25 percent of adult ICU beds, 16 percent of pediatric ICU beds, 38 percent of pediatric beds, and 40 percent of airborne 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

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from Pennsylvania’s state government as of 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 25.

Governor Wolf

• Governor Wolf has presented his fall legislative agenda.  Among his proposals, he called for $225 million for hazard pay for frontline workers; $10 million for a personal protective equipment reimbursement program for small businesses; and $250 million for child care for families with school-age children in need of care because of blended or remote in-person instruction models.  Learn more about these and other aspects of the governor’s proposal here.
• Senate and House Republican leaders responded to the governor’s accusation that they have ignored the public health crisis and thwarted Democratic legislators’ efforts to fight for progress to protect families and business.  Senate majority leader Corman  R (Centre, Huntingdon, Mifflin, and Juniata) called the governor’s fall agenda a “political document” and stated that Governor Wolf, a Democrat, is more interested in providing political cover for Senate and House Democrats in the upcoming election than he is in governing and working with the legislature.  House majority leader Benninghoff (R-Centre and Mifflin) labeled the governor’s agenda disingenuous and unaffordable.
• Governor Wolf announced that Pennsylvania will apply to participate in the federal Lost Wages Assistance program to gain funding for an additional $300 a week in supplemental payments for some Pennsylvanians receiving unemployment benefits.
• The governor’s office posted his weekly COVID-19 status update.  Highlights include:
  • A decline in the state’s positivity rate for COVID-19 tests, from 4.0 percent to 3.4 percent, marking the fourth consecutive week that rate has declined.
  • A 20 percent decline in new COVID-19 cases from the previous week.

The weekly report also includes information about the state’s contact tracing efforts.  Learn more here, in the governor’s news release.  A separate Department of Health news release also addresses the state’s contact tracing work.

Department of Health

• The Department of Health has unveiled “CATE” (Community-Accessible Testing and Education”), a recreational vehicle that has been equipped as a mobile COVID-19 testing and education unit that will travel the state offering free COVID-19 tests and education in medically underserved communities in 16 counties.  Established and operated by the organization Latino Connection, staffed by the Welsh Mountain Health Centers, and funded in part by the state, Highmark, and Independence Blue Cross, CATE has more than 30 stops scheduled during September, the first half of them in the Philadelphia area and then moving westward across the state.  Appointments are not needed and CATE’s tests will be performed by the state’s lab in Exton, which is producing results in 24 to 48 hours.  Learn more about CATE, its origins, and its scheduled stops in this Department of Health news release and by visiting the CATE web site.

• At a news conference Secretary Levine reported that the major backlog of COVID-19 test results has eased.  LabCorp and Quest are now reporting results in two to three days and hospitals and smaller labs are now generally turning around tests in 24 to 48 hours, as is the state’s own lab.  The biggest challenge to access to testing, she said, continues to be access to the reagents used for testing.

Department of Health – by the numbers

• The number of new COVID-19 cases has been declining for the past two weeks.  As noted above, the total of new cases declined 20 percent last week in comparison to the previous week.
• The state’s total number of COVID-19 cases just surpassed 130,000.
• COVID-19 death totals fluctuate considerably from day to day, with the total number of deaths now surpassing 7600.
• Nearly 9400 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.
• The number of Pennsylvanians hospitalized with COVID-19 has declined slowly but steadily over the past month but has spiked modestly in recent days.
• The number of Pennsylvanians on ventilators also has been declining, although more slowly than the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19.
• More than 25,000 residents and staff of 922 long-term-care facilities in 61 of the state’s 67 counties have now contracted COVID-19.
• 22 percent of the beds in Pennsylvania’s acute-care hospitals are currently unoccupied, as are  26 percent of adult ICU beds, 23 of pediatric ICU beds, 38 percent of pediatric beds, and 43 percent of airborne isolation rooms.

Department of Human Services

• DHS’s Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has posted an announcement that provides direction on the use of its health risk screening web portal for staff working at ODP-contracted facilities and programs who are suspected of having COVID-19 or have confirmed cases of COVID-19.

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

The following is the latest coronavirus information from Pennsylvania’s state government as of 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18.

Wolf Administration

The Wolf Administration has awarded $50 million in hazard pay grants for front-line workers in life-sustaining industries.  The program, funded through CARES Act money appropriated to the Department of Community and Economic Development, was announced in mid-July in an effort to keep front-line workers working across the commonwealth.  Click here to read the full press release and here to view a list of grant recipients.

 Department of Health 

• The Secretary of the Department of Health has ordered all skilled nursing facilities, personal care homes, assisted living residences, and private intermediate care facilities to develop, implement, and adhere to policies and procedures that provide for the procurement and distribution of personal protective equipment to all staff by August 27, 2020.  The policies and procedures must at a minimum include distribution of respirators to staff providing direct patient care to COVID-19 positive and suspected cases and staff assigned to provide direct patient care in COVID-19 units.  The respirators distributed by each facility must be National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-approved or FDA-approved.  Respirator distribution must occur prior to the beginning of the staff member’s shift and the respirator must be replaced as soon as practical if the facility is notified by a staff member that a mask has become soiled, damaged, or otherwise ineffective.
• The administration provided an update on its efforts to improve and expand COVID-19 contact tracing efforts through the Department of Health.

Department of Health – by the numbers 

• The number of new COVID-19 cases has remained relatively steady for the past two weeks:  fewer than late July and more like the beginning of last month.
• The department continues to report that the number of cases among people between the ages of 19 and 24 exceeds those among people between the ages of 50 and 64 and those 65 years of age and older.  The number of cases among those between 19 and 24 is rising in every part of the state.
• More than 8,997 health care workers in the state have contracted COVID-19.
• The number of COVID-19-caused deaths in Pennsylvania is nearing 7,500.
• The number of long-term-care facility residents and staff who have contracted COVID-19 now exceeds 24,700.  These cases have occurred in 899 such facilities in 61 of the state’s 67 counties. 

Department of Human Services 

The Department of Human Services has temporarily suspended certain regulatory requirements for the continued and uninterrupted delivery of behavioral health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Go here for a complete list of the regulatory suspensions issued by the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to date.

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.)

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the state and federal governments as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 11.

Pennsylvania Update

Wolf Administration

In a message to families in anticipation of a new school year, the Wolf administration stressed the importance of children receiving their required childhood vaccinations but reminded Pennsylvanians that the Department of Health has temporarily suspended its requirements for children’s immunizations for two months after the beginning of the school year or the beginning of enrollment in an early childhood education program.  See the Wolf administration’s news release on this subject here and Department of Health notice about the temporary policy suspension here.

Department of Health

• The Department of Health addressed a provider question about direct care worker exposure to a COVID-19-positive patient in last week’s weekly wrap-up document, stating that anyone who has had prolonged close contact (within six feet for at least 15 minutes) with an individual who tests positive should be considered potentially exposed regardless of the personal protective equipment worn by either the worker or the patient.
• A posting on the department’s message board provided guidance for hospitals on how to comply with the requirement for an annual public meeting of the governing body in 28 Pa. Code §103.3(10)(iii) during the public health emergency.  That posting explained that

For purposes of a compliance with 28 Pa. Code §103.3(10)(iii), the Department has interpreted the term “attend” to include virtual attendance by the general public and the governing body through the use of audio-video technology.  A hospital choosing to conduct its annual public meeting virtually must still publicize the meeting information well in advance of the meeting and establish a mechanism to document attendance at the meeting.  A hospital does not need approval from the Department to conduct a virtual meeting under 28 Pa. Code §103.3(10)(iii) but must be able to provide documentation of the advance notice and attendance upon request.

Department of Health – by the numbers

• The number of new COVID-19 cases has remained relatively steady for the past week:  fewer than late July and more like the beginning of last month.  Today’s new cases brought the state-wide count to more than 120,000 since the beginning of the pandemic.
• The number of COVID-19-caused deaths has generally been down except for two days in the past week that had the highest death totals since July 1.  Yesterday the state’s total death count from COVID-19 surpassed 7300.
• A report issued jointly by Governor Wolf and the Department of Health late last week noted that the state-wide positive COVID-19 test rate declined to 4.1 percent from 4.6 percent last week.  Counties with concerning positive test rates include Union (11.8 percent), Indiana (7.9 percent), Fayette (7.7 percent), Fulton (7.4 percent), Huntingdon (6.7 percent), Erie (6.2 percent), Mercer (6.2 percent), Lawrence (6.0 percent), Northumberland (6.0 percent), York (5.8 percent), Clearfield (5.7 percent), Luzerne (5.4 percent), Juniata (5.3 percent), Lancaster (5.3 percent), Beaver (5.2 percent), Delaware (5.2 percent), and Mifflin (5.0 percent).
• The number of long-term-care facility residents and staff who have contracted COVID-19 recently rose past the 24,000 mark.
• As has been the case for more than two months, 68 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been among elderly residents of long-term-care facilities.
• The number of Pennsylvanians hospitalized with COVID-19 and breathing with the help of mechanical assistance continues to decline slowly.
• 22 percent of the beds in Pennsylvania’s acute-care hospitals are currently unoccupied, as are  24 percent of adult ICU beds, 15 percent of pediatric ICU beds, 41 percent of pediatric beds, and 43 percent of airborne isolation rooms.

Federal Update

Provider Relief Fund

• Eligible providers may now apply for Provider Relief Fund phase 2 general distributions. These are providers that are being given another opportunity to receive Provider Relief Fund payments after missing the June 3, 2020 deadline to apply for funding equal to two percent of their total patient care revenue from the $20 billion portion of the $50 billion phase 1 general distribution; this group also includes Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), dental providers with low Medicare revenues, and hospitals that received payments in the phase 1 distribution but returned them.  In addition, providers that experienced a change in ownership, making them ineligible for phase 1 funding, also may apply.
  • Providers can go here to learn more about this phase 2 distribution and eligibility.
  • Providers can submit the required financial data on the Provider Relief Fund application and attestation portal. The deadline for submitting data is August 28.
  • Providers can go here to register for a webinar on this distribution to be held on Thursday, August 13 at 3:00 (eastern).
• HHS has shared information about its next CARES Act-authorized nursing home Provider Relief Fund distribution. This $5 billion distribution will include approximately $2.5 billion to support increased testing, staffing, and personal protective equipment needs and to establish COVID-19 isolation facilities, with the balance to be linked to nursing home performance.  HHS expects to make the first $2.5 billion distribution in mid-August and the performance-based distributions throughout the fall.  Learn more from this HHS news release.
• HHS has updated its Provider Relief Fund FAQ with 16 new questions, 15 of which address eligibility for phase 2 general distributions from the Provider Relief Fund and how to apply for those distributions. These questions can be found on pages 22, 23, 24, 29, and 31 of the FAQ; these and other new questions are all dated 8/10/2020.  Another question about eligibility, dated 8/7/2020, can be found on page 2.

Department of Health and Human Services

• HHS has posted the July through December COVID-19 testing plans of all states, territories, and localities. Find those testing plans here.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

• CMS announced a new Community Health Access and Rural Transformation Model (CHART) that will seek to improve the quality, accessibility, and value of care in rural areas. The agency intends to invest up to $75 million in seed money to enable up to 15 rural communities to participate in the program, which will involve tools such as an accountable care organization (AC) transformational track, the extension of COVID-19-inspired telemedicine waivers after the pandemic is over, a reduction of the minimum required supervision level for hospital outpatient therapeutic services, and an increase in wage indexes for low-wage hospitals, including many rural hospitals.  Learn more here.
• CMS has updated its “COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Billing” document with a new question about the broader impact of its waiving of certain Medicare and Medicaid utilization review requirements. See page 22, question 23 for further details.

CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Calls

CMS hosts recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related to its 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.

Lessons from the Front Lines: COVID-19

Friday, August 21 at 12:30 – 2:00 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 5956858

Audio Webcast Link:  go here.

CMS COVID-19 Office Hours Call

Tuesday, August 25 at 5:00 – 6:00 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 8579003

Audio Webcast link:  go here.

Home Health and Hospice Call

Tuesday, August 25 at 3:00 – 3:30 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820 Access Passcode: 6782346
Audio Webcast Link:  go here.

Nursing Homes Call

Wednesday, August 12 at 4:30 – 5:00 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 7857618

Audio Webcast Link:  go here.

Wednesday, August 26 at 4:30 – 5:00 PM eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 5718509
Audio Webcast Link:  go here.

Dialysis Organizations Call

Wednesday, August 12 at 5:30 – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1027088

Audio Webcast Link:  go here.

Wednesday, August 26 at 5:30 – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1834329
Audio Webcast Link:  go here.

Nurses Call

Thursday, August 13 at 3:00 – 3:30 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 7844289

Audio Webcast Link: go here.

Thursday, August 27 at 3:00 – 3:30 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1556623
Audio Webcast Link:  go here.

Conference lines are limited, so CMS encourages interested parties to join via audio webcast.  To listen to the audio files and read the transcripts for these and past COVID-19 Stakeholder calls, visit CMS’s Podcast and Transcripts page.

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.)