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Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last week to address steps being taken to contain COVID-19 and prevent future epidemics.
The novel coronavirus has... Read More »
Resolute in the face of equipment shortages, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that it intends to purchase 500 million N95 respirators for the Strategic National Stockpile over the next 18 months.
N95 respirators are close-fitting, efficient systems that filter... Read More »
Virologists still don’t know a lot about the coronavirus (COVID-19), but expect important facts surrounding length of incubation and repeat infections to be answered in the coming weeks as public and private institutions introduce widely available testing for the dangerous disease, a panel of... Read More »
The former director of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) told Homeland Preparedness News on Friday that Congress should go above and beyond requested supplemental funding to ensure the United States is more prepared to fight the coronavirus outbreak and other future threats.
“There is... Read More »
President Donald Trump signed into law an $8.3 billion emergency funding package on Friday aimed at combatting the spread of the coronavirus that has led to more than 3,000 deaths globally.
The legislation, H.R. 6074, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act,... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) is part of a new initiative to help fill gaps in pandemic preparedness that have emerged with the rapidly evolving COVID-19 coronavirus crisis.
NTI, along with other global health security organizations, is helping to launch a fund called the Global Health... Read More »
A bipartisan coalition of Congress members recently launched an effort to combat transnational trafficking.
The Counter-Trafficking Initiative is designed to explore and expose the breadth and reach of transnational trafficking networks and their illicit finances.
“Whether it’s human... Read More »
During the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee’s hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget for National Guard and Reserve Components, Sen. Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) inquired about a funds transfer.
Durbin, vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee,... Read More »
Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced Wednesday a bill ensuring National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-certified respirators have the same liability protections as other medical products,... Read More »
Specific states and local jurisdictions stand to benefit from federal funding under a targeted effort to counter COVID-19, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week.
Through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an initial $25 million cooperative... Read More »
As both the public’s and lawmakers’ concerns over the spread of COVID-19 continue to mount, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced it will accelerate its set timeline for the development of a DNA vaccine targeting the virus.
The vaccine has been underway since January when Chinese... Read More »
The bipartisan Cure the Coronavirus Act ( H.R. 6019) was introduced this week in the House in response to a growing presence of COVID-19 in the United States.
Through the legislation, U.S. Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA-), Rep. Peter King (R-NY), and Rep. Jaime Herrera... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) urged officials from U.S. health agencies to take action to stem the spread of the coronavirus at a Senate Health Committee hearing on the coronavirus this week.
Specifically, Collins said they should work to prevent drug shortages and protect Americans,... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) a portfolio management recommendation regarding the agency’s nuclear weapon stockpile modernization efforts.
The GAO said the recommendation stemmed from the NNSA modernizing the nation's... Read More »
The World Health Organization (WHO) this week warned that severe disruption of the global supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) is endangering lives already at risk by COVID-19 and other infectious diseases as reports of equipment hoarding, crisis profiteering, and general misuse have come... Read More »
U.S. House and Senate leaders reached an agreement on an $8.3 billion emergency supplemental appropriations package on Wednesday to fund the nation’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, including critical funding for vaccine research and development.
“Today Democrats and Republicans in... Read More »
Right-wing extremists were responsible for a majority of extremist-related murders in the United States last year, according to a report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Of the 42 extremist-related murders in the nation last year, 38 were committed by individuals subscribing to various... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently indicated its PreCheck program has reached a milestone of 10 million members, adding the landmark figure is essential to aviation security.
TSA PreCheck is an expedited screening program enabling low-risk travelers to undergo screening... Read More »
Two government agencies said Southwest Valley Constructors Co. has secured a contract to build 15 miles of new Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector border wall.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) officials announced the contract, valued at $179,580,000,... Read More »
With reports of COVID-19 cases spreading further across the U.S. day by day, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) has become the latest lawmaker calling for swift congressional action to contain the virus.
While the novel coronavirus’s spread in the United States has remained low, Centers for... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) recently announced plans to introduce legislation to conduct or support comprehensive research for the creation of a universal coronavirus vaccine.
The bill calls for an investment of $1 billion, which breaks down to $250 million for each of fiscal years 2020... Read More »
Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Gary C. Peters (D-MI) recently forwarded correspondence to two agencies to inquire about medical supply chain security and stability in the event of a coronavirus outbreak.
Johnson and Peters sent a letter to Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary... Read More »
Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced last week a measure designed to protect Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees from accidental exposure to fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
The Synthetic Opioid Exposure Prevention and Training Act of 2020 would... Read More »
A new policy issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week means to expedite U.S. diagnostic capabilities related to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, by allowing specific labs to immediately utilize related tests they have developed and validated.
This builds on an Emergency... Read More »
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), and Raul Ruiz (D-CA) have been selected to head up the new Bipartisan Congressional Coronavirus Task Force.
The task force will marshal the experience and expertise of Congress members and committee leaders to develop an action plan for... Read More »
While raising the global risk surrounding the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, to very high, the World Health Organization (WHO) this week released $15 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) as a means of shoring up defenses in more vulnerable nations.
“We do not yet see evidence... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) are asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine if the nuclear modernization activities by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are sustainable and affordable.
The GAO issued a report in 2017 recommending... Read More »
The House Appropriations Committee took testimony from Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan this week, regarding the CBP’s portion of the Trump administration’s proposed FY 2021 budget.
For CBP, that portion amounts to a more than $18.2 billion budget... Read More »
The new open access journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the JACEP Open, is kicking things off with dual analyses of COVID-19 -- both its transmission risk factors and the public health concerns such outbreaks spur.
To date, notes the article Novel Coronavirus 2019:... Read More »
Raytheon Company is teaming up with IronNet Cybersecurity to develop cyber solutions for the defense of operational and information technology (OT/IT) systems.
These solutions would integrate security services with advanced analysis and threat sharing tools through IronNet's collective defense... Read More »
A bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate that would reverse the Department of Defense’s recent transfer of $3.8 billion to be used to a border wall.
Further, the Restoring Military Priorities Act of 2020 would reduce the transfer authority of the DoD to prevent President Trump from diverting... Read More »
An apparent bottleneck has emerged in U.S. capabilities to test for the novel coronavirus, with the much-awaited release of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) test kit scrapped this week after performance issues emerged.
While this has not hindered the CDC’s testing... Read More »
Under the newly launched Technology Accelerator Challenge, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering $1 million for those capable of designing and developing handheld, digital technologies capable of detecting and diagnosing high impact diseases.
Bolstered by support from the Bill &... Read More »
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, charged Wednesday night with leading the federal government’s response to the coronavirus epidemic, has named a top AIDS expert to coordinate the response and clamped down on future outgoing coronavirus messaging by government health officials and... Read More »
Harvard University scientists will work with researchers from China to develop coronavirus therapies and treatments designed to prevent new infections and alleviate existing ones.
The effort will be led by Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley, working with colleagues from the Harvard T.H.... Read More »
