The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 24.
Provider Relief Fund
The Provider Relief Fund web page has been updated with the following notice:
The application deadline for the Provider Relief Fund Phase 3 General Distribution was Nov. 6, 2020. You must have submitted your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) for validation by 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 6, 2020 for Phase 3 relief funds. If you submitted your TIN for validation by the deadline and your TIN is validated by Nov. 13, you will be able to proceed with submitting your revenue documentation to complete your application by 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 27, 2020.
Department of Health and Human Services
- HHS has announced plans to allocate doses of the investigational monoclonal antibody therapeutics casirivimab and imdevimab for treatment of non-hospitalized patients with mild or moderate confirmed cases of COVID-19 at high risk of hospitalization; this is often referred to publicly as the Regeneron antibody cocktail. HHS will allocate 300,000 federally-purchased doses to state and territorial health departments that will determine which health care facilities receive the infusion drug. Weekly allocations of the drug will be proportionally based on confirmed COVID-19 cases in each state and territory over the previous seven days based on data that hospitals and state health departments enter into the HHS Protect data collection platform. Learn more from HHS’s announcement about the allocation plan. Find additional information about allocation here.
- HHS has published a Request for Information notice in which it seeks to “…gather information on effective innovative approaches and best practices in health care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by non-HHS health care systems and providers.” Comments are due by December 24. Go here to see the brief notice.
- HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has posted a paper on the designation of individual hospitals as COVID-19 hospitals within health systems or geographic areas.
- HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has posted a report on crisis standards of care and patient surge management for COVID-19.
- HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has posted a presentation with information on the use of point-of-care tests for the diagnosis of COVID-19.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- CMS has posted the first episode in a series of short podcasts for frontline nursing home staff. The series, “CMS Beyond the Policy: Nursing Home Series for Frontline Clinicians and Staff,” is designed to reinforce training and infection control practices in nursing homes to help combat the spread of COVID-19. To listen to the podcast, go here.
Food and Drug Administration
- The FDA has issued emergency use authorization for emergency use of baricitinib (Olumiant), in combination with remdesivir (Veklury), for use by health care professionals in the treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in certain hospitalized patients requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). See the FDA’s letter authorizing the drug’s use in this manner, a fact sheet for providers, and an FAQ on the emergency use of baricitinib in combination with remdesivir.
- The FDA has issued an EUA for casirivimab and imdevimab to be administered together for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age or older weighing at least 88 pounds) with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19. The FDA also posted an FAQ on the use of this combination of drugs.
- The FDA has approved an abbreviated new drug application for succinylcholine chloride injection, which can be used to facilitate tracheal intubation and provide skeletal muscle relaxation during mechanical ventilation for COVID-19 patients.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- The CDC’s weekly morbidity and mortality report addresses the deliberations of the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ ethical principles for the allocation of initial supplies of COVID-19 vaccine.
- The CDC has updated its information about strategies for optimizing providers’ supplies of N95 respirators.
- The CDC has updated its FAQs for laboratories that perform COVID-19 tests.
- The CDC has updated its guidance on infection control for nursing homes.
- The CDC also has updated its infection control assessment tool for nursing homes.
Department of Labor
- The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has updated its FAQ on the use of cloth face coverings as personal protective equipment.