We’ve done the legwork for you and compiled some of the latest news and updates pertaining to COVID-19. For more information and announcements about the virus and the healthcare industry be sure to read our other reports and posts.
Products and Technology
First Databank Updates COVID-19 Medical Supply Guide with More Than 1,300 of the Latest Products to Help in Fight Against Pandemic
First Databank, Inc. (@FDB_US), a provider of drug and medical device knowledge that helps healthcare professionals make precise decisions, announced it is updating its COVID-19 Medical Supply Guide to feature new products that have become available, including SARS-CoV-2 test kits, personal protective equipment (PPE) and disinfectants. More than 1,300 new products across these categories have been added to the FDB COVID-19 Medical Supply Guide, which is available free of charge to healthcare providers.
This DIY contact tracing app helps people exposed to COVID-19 remember who they met
The Conversations reports on CogTracer, a free online tool to help people start tracing those contacts using best-practice interviewing methods. With DIY contact tracing, the timetable changes. For example, while you’re waiting for your test, you can be given the link to the website and start walking yourself through a contact tracing interview.
News and Noted
Cyberattacks Discovered on Vaccine Distribution Operations
NYT (@nytimes) reports that a series of cyberattacks is underway aimed at the companies and government organizations that will be distributing coronavirus vaccines around the world, IBM’s cybersecurity division has found, though it is unclear whether the goal is to steal the technology for keeping the vaccines refrigerated in transit or to sabotage the movements.
Bipartisan group of lawmakers announces $908 billion stimulus plan, aiming to break logjam
The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) reports that a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a coronavirus aid proposal worth about $908 billion, aiming to break a months-long partisan impasse over emergency federal relief for the U.S. economy amid the ongoing pandemic.
Long-Term-Care Residents and Health Workers Should Get Vaccine First, C.D.C. Panel Says
NYT reports that an independent panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Tuesday to recommend that residents and employees of nursing homes and similar facilities be the first people in the United States to receive coronavirus vaccines, along with health care workers who are especially at risk of being exposed to the virus.
Here’s who’s on Joe Biden’s transition Covid-19 Advisory Board
CNN reports that President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ newly appointed Transition Covid-19 Advisory Board is led by established public health officials and staffed by a mix of doctors and current and former government officials, some with high-profile media visibility.
CMS Announces Comprehensive Strategy to Enhance Hospital Capacity Amid COVID-19 Surge
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (@CMSGov) outlined unprecedented comprehensive steps to increase the capacity of the American health care system to provide care to patients outside a traditional hospital setting amid a rising number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalizations across the country.
Surveys and Reports
U.S. Hospitals Hit with Another Month of Low Volumes, High Expenses, and Poor Margins as COVID-19 Cases Mount
Instability spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic continued to hit hospitals and health systems nationwide in October. Margins fell, revenues flattened, and expenses rose as organizations saw an eighth consecutive month of shrinking volumes, according to the November issue of Kaufman Hall’s National Hospital Flash Report.
To Read
Advice for the holiday season: 10 clinicians weigh in from Becker’s Hospital Review (@beckershr) – 10 clinicians’ opinions on what Thanksgiving and the holiday season should look like this year.
A “Thank You” Meal for community COVID-19 testing site teams by UHIN (@UHIN_HIE) – As a small token of appreciation, UHIN sent meals to various COVID-19 testing sites in Utah working through Thanksgiving and on Friday.
Federal system for tracking hospital beds and COVID-19 patients provides questionable data by Science (@sciencemagazine) – An investigative report from Science reveals that the federal COVID-19 data system run by HHS varies greatly from state-supplied information.
#COVID19 superspreading events have been reported around the world, happening in bars and barbecues, gyms and factories, schools and churches, and even at the White House.
Here, we looks at the science of superspreading: https://t.co/gKOd33i8Kj @ScienceVisuals
— Science Magazine (@ScienceMagazine) December 4, 2020
To Listen
We have compiled a playlist from all our shows and podcasts on our network that discuss the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Events
Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers (PRI)
What: COVID-19 Physician Peer Support
When: Tuesdays & Thursdays 5:30 – 6:30 pm ET
Register for Tuesday & Thursday Groups
Twitter: @EmPRO_Insurance
COVID-19 Physician Peer Support – PRI has multiple weekly complimentary Virtual Support Groups on Coping with COVID-19 which your fellow physicians have been utilizing and finding great comfort and support from.
Latest COVID-19 News from CDC
CDC is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services. CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the US. CDC increases the health security of our nation. As the nation’s health protection agency, CDC saves lives and protects people from health threats.
The CDC is the front line for our safety and information on the Coronavirus. Keep informed about COVID-19. Sign up to get emails or text alerts from the CDC.
HHS and our federal partners are working together with state, local, tribal and territorial governments, public health officials, health care providers, researchers, private sector organizations and the public to execute a whole-of-America response to the COVID-19 pandemic to protect the health and safety of the American people.
ONC To support HHS’s ongoing response efforts to the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), ONC has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to share various resources for reporting and tracking COVID-19, as well as general clinical guidance to the health IT community and healthcare providers. Health IT now plays a crucial role in the collecting and reporting of COVID-19 data.
CMS Find tools and resources from CMS for Providers on COVID
COVID-19 Resources
HealthcareNOW Radio rounded up some health IT resources being offered by companies to help healthcare professionals, American citizens and all of those affected in the fight against the coronavirus.
COVID-19 Pharma News
HealthcareNOW Radio rounded up some of the latest news and announcements pertaining to the coronavirus and the pharmaceutical industry.
Health Center COVID-19 Testing
Updated weekly using data from the Health Center COVID-19 Survey, the Health Center COVID-19 Testing Dashboard provides a high-level view of total COVID-19 tests conducted and the distribution of positive COVID-19 tests by race and ethnicity.