The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 3:00 p.m. on Friday, August 21.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- CMS had updated its COVID-19 emergency declaration blanket waivers and flexibilities for health care providers. Among those flexibilities, CMS has postponed the September 1, 2020 deadline for submitting wage index reclassification applications to the Medicare geographic classification review board application. The deadline has been pushed back until 15 days after the public display date of the FY 2021 IPPS/LTCH final rule by the Office of the Federal Register. See page 10 for details.
- CMS has updated its memorandum on key components for COVID-19 management of dialysis facilities. This update clarifies CMS guidance on dialysis facility patients residing in long-term facilities, home dialysis services, and essential procedures for dialysis patients. View checklist for dialysis facilities here.
Food and Drug Administration
- The FDA has issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for emergency use of a commercial test to detect nucleocapsid protein antigen to COVID-19 directly from nasal swab specimens collected from individuals who are suspected of COVID-19 by their health care provider within the first 12 days of the onset of symptoms.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- The CDC has released operational considerations for community isolation centers for COVID-19 in low-resource settings.
- The CDC has updated its interim COVID-19 contact tracing communications toolkit for health departments.
- The CDC has provided more than $200 million to address COVID-19 health disparities in Indian communities within the borders of the United States.
- The CDC has updated its fact sheet on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
- The CDC has updated its contact tracing frequently asked questions for health departments.
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