Headline News
COVID-19 News Updates for August 17, 2020
White House Updates
· Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure (HERE)
· Remarks by President Trump in Press Briefing | August 15, 2020 (HERE)
· President Trump Approves Iowa Disaster Declaration (HERE)
· Statement from the President on the Passing of Robert Trump (HERE)
· Remarks by Vice President Pence and Governor Justice of West Virginia in a COVID-19 Briefing | White Sulphur Springs, WV (HERE)
· Statement by the President Regarding the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the Republic of Poland (HERE)
· Order Regarding the Acquisition of Musical.ly by ByteDance Ltd (HERE)
HHS: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020-news-releases/index.html AND https://www.youtube.com/c/HHS/videos
HHS Reports Progress on President Trump’s ‘Advancing American Kidney Health’ Initiative
(HERE)
· As we are now confronting COVID-19, the pandemic further underscores the importance of the Department’s efforts to address kidney health as illustrated in this progress report. People with kidney disease and transplant recipients are at a higher risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19. In addition, COVID-19 infection can cause acute kidney injury in some people, even in those who did not have kidney problems before they became infected with the virus.
NIH: https://www.nih.gov/news-events AND https://www.youtube.com/user/NIHOD/videos
CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/archives.html AND https://www.youtube.com/c/CDC/videos
CMS: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom AND https://www.youtube.com/user/CMSHHSgov/videos
FDA: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/fda-newsroom/press-announcements AND https://www.youtube.com/user/USFoodandDrugAdmin/videos
FDA Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update Daily Roundup – August 17, 2020 (HERE)
· The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to announce actions taken in its ongoing response effort to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization to Yale School of Public Health for SalivaDirect, Which Uses a New Method of Saliva Sample Processing (HERE)
· Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Yale School of Public Health for its SalivaDirect COVID-19 diagnostic test, which uses a new method of processing saliva samples when testing for COVID-19 infection.
DHS: https://www.dhs.gov/news-releases/press-releases
FEMA: https://www.fema.gov/about/news-multimedia/press-releases
FEMA Announces Lost Wages Grants for Colorado, Missouri and Utah (HERE)
· On August 8, 2020, President Trump made available up to $44 billion from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to Americans who have lost wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Colorado, Missouri and Utah all recently agreed to administer lost wages programs for their citizens who are unemployed due to COVID-19.
FEMA Announces First States to Receive Lost Wages Grants (HERE)
· On August 8, 2020, President Trump made available up to $44 billion from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to Americans who have lost wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The states of Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, and New Mexico are the first states to agree to administer a lost wages program for its citizens who are unemployed due to COVID-19.
Treasury: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases
Readout from a Treasury Spokesperson on Secretary Mnuchin’s Discussion with G7 Finance Ministers (HERE)
· Today, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin hosted a discussion with his counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the European Commission, the Eurogroup, the IMF, and the World Bank. The G7 Finance Ministries remain in regular contact and continue to coordinate on timely and effective actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
IRS: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom
SBA: https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories AND https://www.youtube.com/c/sbagov/videos
USDA: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases AND https://www.youtube.com/user/usda/videos?app=desktop
HUD: https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories
DOL: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases
ICYMI: U.S. Department of Labor Acts to Help American Workers and Employers During the Coronavirus Pandemic (HERE)
· U.S. Department of Labor Announces Guidance for the Lost Wages Assistance Program to Provide Needed Relief to Americans – The U.S. Department of Labor announced the release of guidance to help states implement the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program. LWA is authorized by a Presidential Memorandum, and provides claimants in most Unemployment Insurance programs up to $400 per week of additional benefits, starting with weeks of unemployment ending on or after Aug. 1, 2020, and ending Dec. 27, 2020, at the latest. LWA will be administered by states and territories through a grant agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency and with support from the Labor Department.
DOT: https://www.transportation.gov/newsroom
DOEd: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases
DOE: https://www.energy.gov/listings/energy-news
EPA: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/search
DOC: https://www.commerce.gov/news
EDA: https://www.eda.gov/news/*
U.S. Department of Commerce Continues to Invest Cares Act Funding to Boost Economic Development Programs Critical to Helping Communities Respond to Coronavirus (HERE)
· EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance, which is being administered under the authority of the bureau’s flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, provides a wide-range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. For complete information, please visit EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance page.
State: https://www.state.gov/press-releases/
USTR: https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases
VA: https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/index.cfm
DOD: https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/
DOD Awards $750,000 to Plasma Technologies, LLC for Manufacturing of Convalescent Plasma Products Using a Novel Process in Support of the U.S. COVID-19 Response (HERE)
· On 14 August 2020, the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Joint Acquisition Task Force (JATF), supported by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), entered into a $750,000 cooperative agreement with Plasma Technologies, LLC. The agreement is to develop and optimize a process to produce higher yielding anti-COVID-19 immune serum for scale-up and manufacturing, if successful. A higher yield hyperimmune serum would be an improvement over the current standard method. Convalescent plasma, which is collected from a person who has recovered from a disease, may be beneficial in the treatment of patients suffering from COVID-19.
COVID-19: Background & Additional Information
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For background and the most up-to-date information, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Coronavirus Disease 2019 website: HERE