Government
A group of senators recently forwarded correspondence to Vice President Mike Pence, the Coronavirus Task Force, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) seeking COVID-19 testing clarity.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Tina Smith (D-MN) joined colleagues in calling for the initiation... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) will pump approximately $180,000 into a new partnership with DiaSorin, Inc. to create a clinical lab test capable of identifying people infected with and recovered from the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes... Read More »
Esri, a company that makes geographic information system (GIS) software, is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Specifically, Esri will provide its mapping and analytics technology in support of a multi-agency geospatial... Read More »
A group of Democratic U.S. Senators will introduce a bill to establish a commission to examine the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The commission would be charged with reviewing the government’s coronavirus response and make recommendations on how it can be improved. The bill... Read More »
Analytical AI of Birmingham, Ala., received a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) funding award to aid Transportation Security Administration (TSA) detection and screening capabilities.
The $199,536 allotment through the Silicon Valley Innovation... Read More »
One of the major problems facing governments and healthcare professionals alike in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has been the undetected, asymptomatic cases throughout the world, but the National Institutes of Health (NIH) now aims to track the previously unnoticed.
A study to be conducted... Read More »
In a second emergency use authorization (EUA), the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the decontamination of N95 and equivalent respirators for reuse by health care workers in hospitals working to contain COVID-19.
Such masks have been in short supply as hospitals... Read More »
A group of Congressional lawmakers are calling on leaders of the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the World Organization for Animal Health to ban live wildlife markets and international trade of live wildlife.
Live wildlife markets, also known as “wet” markets, create a... Read More »
A recently released report generated by United Kingdom and American security personnel maintains cyber criminals and other online groups are exploiting the COVID-19 outbreak for personal gain.
The analysis from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Department of Homeland... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced legislation designed to protect first responders and frontline workers in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The COVID–19 Workers First Protection Act (S. 3584) directs the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue an emergency temporary... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded roughly $1.3 billion to health centers to help them respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
The funding – through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) – went to 1,387 different health centers. The awards may be... Read More »
Teaming up with the United States government, health technology provider Royal Philips has agreed to double the production of hospital ventilators at its U.S. manufacturing sites by May and push for a four-fold increase by the third quarter.
These supplies would then be usable in both the U.S.... Read More »
A new report from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) attributes three instances of chemical weapons use in 2017 to the Assad regime in Syria.
The report from the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) concluded that there are grounds to believe that the... Read More »
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials reached an agreement with DuPont to obtain Tyvek suits for frontline healthcare workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
DuPont will deliver 450,000 Tyvek suits, via FedEx, to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) from its Hanoi,... Read More »
A pair of lawmakers are calling for immediate action to prepare for and prevent anticipated critical drug shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Patty Murray (D-WA) have forwarded correspondence to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of the... Read More »
Nanomix is working to create a 15 minute rapid mobile COVID-19 test, capable of diagnosing current or past infection by SARS-CoV-2 through nasal and throat swabs.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is teaming up with Nanomix to achieve this, pumping $569,647 into... Read More »
A group of Democratic U.S. Senators recently urged Trump administration officials to immediately distribute an initial round of emergency funding to hospitals and other health care providers.
This funding would come from the $100 billion that was authorized to hospitals and healthcare... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted Inovio Pharmaceuticals investigational new drug (IND) application for its vaccine candidate designed to prevent COVID-19 infection.
This action by the FDA paves the way for Phase 1 clinical testing of this vaccine candidate, INO-4800, in healthy... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is seeking participants for its third 2020 GPS Testing for Critical Infrastructure (GET-CI) event later this year.
“Accurate and precise position, navigation and timing (PNT) information is vital to the... Read More »
Actemra, a drug more commonly used to treat moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, will undergo a Phase 3 clinical trial for its potential to help patients suffering from COVID-19, under an expanded partnership between Roche’s Genentech and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development... Read More »
Global healthcare company Grifols is collaborating with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to collect plasma and create a COVID-19 treatment based on it.
The effort is based on previous government calls for... Read More »
The federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is working with OraSure Technology to develop a test for the coronavirus (COVID-19) that could bring testing closer to the patient.
OraSure’s point-of-care test will be available at home and in clinical settings. It... Read More »
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would provide $186 million to state and local jurisdictions for COVID-19 support.
“Testing and surveillance is a vital piece of our efforts to beat the coronavirus, and this new... Read More »
A group of legislators recently introduced legislation designed to create a commission to assess the nation's response and make recommendations for future pandemic preparedness.
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) joined 12 colleagues in presenting the Pandemic Rapid Response Act, which establishes the... Read More »
Hydroxychloroquine is flooding the Strategic National Stockpile this week as a potential treatment for COVID-19, thanks to a 30 million dose donation from Sandoz and another 1 million gifted by Bayer Pharmaceuticals.
Both hydroxychloroquine sulfate and chloroquine phosphate were given U.S. Food... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) intends to purchase the ID NOW COVID-19 rapid point-of-care test developed by Abbott Diagnostics Scarborough Inc., to expand the supply of diagnostics available to state, territorial and tribal public health labs.
Designed for the ID NOW... Read More »
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced the creation of the COVID-19 Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC) to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in Massachusetts.
This collaboration with Partners In Health focuses on tracing the contacts of confirmed positive COVID-19 patients and... Read More »
A bill recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to establish a National Commission on United States Preparedness for National Emergencies.
The Made in America Emergency Preparedness Act authorizes the creation of a National Commission on United States Preparedness for... Read More »
A Republican group of legislators announced plans to introduce the Li Wenliang Global Public Health Accountability Act designed to address foreign officials who attempted to conceal early onset COVID-19 public health information.
The Act would also sanction any foreign official who may conceal a... Read More »
Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón recently led a bipartisan group of lawmakers in introducing a measure that bolsters the U.S. supply chain amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
González-Colón and Reps. Donna Shalala (D-FL), Rob Bishop (R-UT), Darren Soto (D-FL), Ruben... Read More »
As part of ongoing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) efforts to promote reliable COVID-19 information, it has modified its existing surveillance systems to form a weekly new report known as COVIDView, which will summarize and interpret data each Friday.
The first COVIDView... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stepped in to fast-track development of and access to two more investigational therapies for COVID-19 based on convalescent plasma and hyperimmune globulin from human blood.
By using blood donated from those who have recovered from the SARS-CoV-2... Read More »
Senate Veterans' Affairs Ranking Member Jon Tester (D-MT) and Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS) are encouraging Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to ensure National Guard members receive benefits and pay earned from their time in active duty responding to COVID-19.
The senators are advocating the action... Read More »
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has forwarded correspondence to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking clarity regarding reported shortages of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Warren maintains the drugs, which are generally used to treat lupus,... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced two new corporate partnerships last week, with the Luminex Corporation and GenMark, Dx, respectively, to get more COVID-19 diagnostic tests to market.
Both are rapid diagnostic tests. The Luminex test draws from nasal... Read More »
