3/18/22 – Covid-19 Weekly Update

CHAP’s COVID-19 Weekly Update
In this “one-stop shop” update, CHAP will provide a roundup of important COVID-19 information from various federal sources.

All health care providers should be monitoring COVID-19 incidence rates in their state/county on an ongoing basis.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC provides weekly data about case rates, deaths, testing, and vaccine administration on their COVID tracker webpage.

 

CDC Updates
As of March 10, 2022, more than 98% of the U.S. population is in a location with low or medium COVID-19 Community Level.

 

Mask Use on Public Transportation
At CDC’s recommendation, TSA will extend the security directive for mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs for one month, through April 18th. During that time, CDC will work with government agencies to help inform a revised policy framework for when, and under what circumstances, masks should be required in the public transportation corridor. This revised framework will be based on the COVID-19 community levels, risk of new variants, national data, and the latest science. We will communicate any updates publicly if and/or when they change.

Experts from private sector, federal agencies join forces to advise on reducing risks, boosting the healthcare supply chain (HHS) As part of implementing the National Strategy for a Resilient Public Health Supply Chain HHS is engaging experts from the private sector and across the government to share information and best practices, identify threats, and mitigate risks to make U.S. supply chains stronger. This team, called the Joint Supply Chain Resilience Working Group, will offer near-real-time information-sharing and collaboration to tackle steady state and emerging risks and build toward a more agile, visible, and robust U.S. public health supply chain.

 

FEMA Tops $2 Billion of COVID-19 Funeral Assistance, Announces New Campaign to Increase Program Awareness
FEMA announced it has provided over $2 billion in COVID-19 funeral assistance to support more than 300,000 applicants grappling with the financial stress and burden caused by the pandemic. FEMA is also launching a new outreach campaign and continuing to process applications to ensure that this program — already the largest offering of funeral assistance in FEMA’s history — reaches additional eligible families in need.