3/4/2022 – 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.

 

Your COVID-19 Community Level (CDC, 2/25/22)
CDC is updating the way it monitors COVID-19’s impact on our communities. Widespread availability of vaccines and testing advances in treatments, and increasing levels of immunity in the population through vaccination or previous infection have moved the COVID-19 pandemic to a new phase.  CDC is launching a new tool to monitor COVID-19 Community Levels. Each county’s COVID-19 Community Level is ranked as low, medium, or high (find your county’s level). The COVID-19 Community Level map where you can find your county’s level will be updated regularly with new data. Your community’s level is determined by a combination of:

  • How many people with COVID-19 have been admitted into local hospitals in the last week
  • How many local hospital beds are filled with COVID-19 patients
  • How many new COVID-19 cases the county has had in the last week

 

Use and Care of Masks (CDC, 2/25/22)
Know the COVID-19 Community Level where you live.  COVID-19 Community Levels are a tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data.

 

FDA Updates 2/25/22

 

HHS Distributing $560 Million in Provider Relief Fund Payments to Health Care Providers Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic (2/24/22)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is making more than $560 million in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 General Distribution payments to more than 4,100 providers across the country this week.  With this funding, nearly $19 billion will have been distributed from the Provider Relief Fund and the American Rescue Plan Rural provider funding since November 2021.  Phase 4 payments have an increased focus on equity, including reimbursing a higher percentage of losses for smaller providers and incorporating bonus payments for providers who serve Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Medicare beneficiaries. Approximately 86 percent of all Phase 4 applications have now been processed. Remaining applications will continue to be processed throughout early 2022.

 

White House: Memorandum on Maximizing Assistance to Respond to COVID-⁠19 (3/1/22)
President Biden issued a memo to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the FEMA administrator addressing the need for continued support of the federal government to combat and respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

 

FACT SHEET: Biden Administration Announces New Actions to Address the Needs of People with Disabilities and Older Adults in Response to and Recovery from COVID-⁠19 (White House Press room, (2/24/22)
The Biden Administration will take several key steps to further our work to ensure that disabled individuals, regardless of where they live or the level of community transmission of the virus, have equitable access to COVID-19 testing, masks, and other critical mitigation strategies. The Administration remains committed to implementing these policies and developing additional policies in close collaboration with the disability community – keeping equity and accessibility at the center of our COVID-19 response and beyond.