Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

To continue amplifying the important message of protecting against both the flu and COVID-19, AHA’s Wear A Mask and United Against the Flu campaigns released new resources, including new sample social media messages and graphics that hospitals and health systems can use to reiterate the importance of getting a flu shot, wearing a mask and practicing good hygiene.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has released guidance on considerations for health care providers exploring high-flow nasal cannula therapy, a less-invasive oxygen therapy than mechanical ventilation that has shown clinically useful in treating severe and critical COVID-19 patients.

The Department of Health and Human Services will host an additional webinar Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. ET on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Oct. 6 guidance on COVID-19 data reporting requirements for hospitals that participate in Medicare.

The American Medical Association announced Current Procedural Terminology codes for reporting on medical claims two COVID-19 vaccines and their administration to patients by dose.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Medicare coverage for monoclonal antibody therapies, with no beneficiary cost-sharing for the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. CMS said the coverage will apply to bamlanivimab, the Lilly therapeutic that earned an emergency use authorization earlier this week.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines the advantages, limitations and status of certain COVID-19 diagnostic tests, including reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests, point-of-care tests, and next generation sequencing tests.

ECRI tested 34 disposable isolation gown models made by foreign or non-traditional suppliers and found that about half did not meet the minimum U.S. standard for liquid barrier protection, the organization said in a report released.

The Food and Drug Administration Nov. 10 issued an emergency use authorization for Eli Lilly and Company’s monoclonal antibody therapy, bamlanivimab.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the first serology test to identify individuals with neutralizing antibodies from recent or prior infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.

In a study of 106,543 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 between March and July, 9% were readmitted to the same hospital within two months of discharge, the Centers Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Pfizer Inc. announced that BNT162b2, its mRNA-based vaccine candidate, is more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19, based on early data that has yet to be peer-reviewed.

The Department of Health and Human Services should fully reinstate its June COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements, AHA said again in a letter to the agency. On Oct. 22, the department partially restored the requirements, but not the ability of hospitals to calculate lost revenue on a monthly basis or use a budgeted-to-actual comparison.

The AHA continued its ongoing effort to speak out against misinformation about federal relief funding for hospitals, challenging an assertion by an article in the Los Angeles Times that billions in federal funds allocated during the COVID-19 public health emergency is “padding bottom lines at some of the country’s most profitable businesses,” hospitals and health systems included.

Eligible family members of front-line health care workers and volunteers who lose their lives to COVID-19 can apply to the Brave of Heart Fund for grants to support common needs such as funeral costs, medical care, counseling, food, education, mortgage payments and living expenses.

We shouldn’t be surprised by now, but 2020 continues to be an extraordinary year … and it’s not over yet.

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times, “Trump doled out billions to drug makers and hospitals with few strings attached,” misses the mark. The reality is that America’s hospitals and health systems are facing their greatest financial crisis

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its recommended practices to prevent and control infection in health care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Tomorrow is the deadline for hospitals and other health care providers to apply for a portion of $20 billion in funds from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund.

Pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely than their non-pregnant counterparts to be admitted to an intensive care unit, receive invasive ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or die, according to a study of 461,825 women with symptomatic COVID-19 released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Food and Drug Administration reminded clinical laboratory staff and health care providers to follow recommended steps to prevent false positive results from antigen tests for the COVID-19 virus, citing reports of false positives in nursing homes and other settings.