IowaBio wants to provide our members useful information during the COVID-19 pandemic. This newsletter compiles information on state, federal and industry action to combat the virus and its impacts.
If your company is helping respond to COVID-19, IowaBio wants to know about it. Please, send any information about what your biotechnology company or organization is doing to help, to Jessica Hyland at Jessica@iowabio.org.
If IowaBio can assist you in getting information out, connecting with public officials, or support your company in another way, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Past IowaBio COVID-19 Update newsletters are now available at www.iowabio.org/COVID19 and can be found under the Industry News tab on the IowaBio website.
Iowa Update
Currently, IDPH has reported on the state’s coronavirus dashboard, 87,256 Iowans have tested positive, up 595 from our update yesterday morning, with a total of 788,868 tested. 8 additional deaths were reported since our last update, bringing the total to 1,324 deaths. Now 67,341 Iowans have recovered. The overall positivity rate is 11.1% and the total 14 day rolling average positivity rate is 8.6%. The latest on hospitalizations, including how many patients have been admitted in the last 24 hours can be found here.
School district statistics including positivity rates by county can be found here. According to guidance issued by the Iowa Department of Education, schools may petition to go to hybrid or online learning with less than 50 percent in-person instruction when the per county percentage positivity rates are above 15 percent in a county on average over the past 14 days (rolling average) AND 10% absenteeism among students is expected for in-person learning.
Currently 13 counties are above 15 percent positivity rate over the past 14 days:
Sioux 27.9%
Lyon 26.7%
Osceola 23.8%
Delaware 18.1%
Plymouth 17.7%
Crawford 17.6%
Fremont 17.0%
Chickasaw 16.5%
Dubuque 16.0%
Sac 15.4%
Palo Alto 15.4%
O’Brien 15.3%
Woodbury 15.2%
Federal Actions
House Democrats released an updated version of the Heroes Act, their $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. The text of revised version of The Heroes Act is here. A one-pager on the legislation is here. A section-by-section summary is here. Additional information on the state and local relief provisions is here.
President Trump announced yesterday that the federal government will ship 100 million rapid coronavirus tests to states by the end of the year. The first shipment of around 6.5 million tests will be divided and sent this week. The amount each state receives will be based on population data. President Trump and HHS testing czar Brett Giroir are encouraging state leaders to use the tests to help schools reopen, but governors will ultimately be in charge of deciding how to use the rapid tests they receive.
Today at 12:00 PM, the FDA, NIOSH, and OSHA will host a webinar on Respirators and Other PPE for Health Care Personnel Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The FDA has announced a clinical hold on INOVIO's COVID-19 vaccine trials as the Agency has additional questions about the CELLECTRA® 2000 delivery device used in the trial. The hold is not the result of any adverse outcomes during the ongoing Phase 1 portion of INOVIO's study, and INOVIO and its partners are continuing to prepare for a planned Phase 2/3 trial of INO-4800.
Tomorrow the FDA will host the last in their series of virtual Town Halls for clinical laboratories and commercial manufacturers that are developing or have developed diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2. The purpose of this Town Hall is to help answer technical questions about the development and validation of tests for SARS-CoV-2. The FDA will also hold virtual Town Halls for clinical laboratories and commercial manufacturers to help answer questions on:
September 30, 12:15 PM
The CDC updated their guidance yesterday on how to select, wear, and clean your mask.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold a hearing on Wednesday titled, "Pathway to a Vaccine: Ensuring a Safe and Effective Vaccine People Will Trust.” You can view the witness panel here. A memo will be available upon request.
Friday, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis will hold a hybrid hearing with HHS Sec. Alex Azar on the Department’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. A memo will also be available upon request for this hearing.
Updates from the States
Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 7,095,422 total cases and204,328 deathsThe CDC data closes out the day before reporting.
State officials in Minnesota have reported that a public health survey on the impact of COVID-19 has been halted after several incidents in which surveyors of color were intimidated or called racial slurs. The surveyors, who are conducting this work in person, have faced armed threats, verbal harassment, and have even been followed or videotaped. CDC's Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response survey, or CASPER survey, was scheduled to run between Sept. 14 and Sept. 30 and was meant to help public health officials understand the spread of COVID-19 in Minnesota.
Almost half of U.S. states are reporting increased numbers of new COVID-19 cases as health experts warn of a potential coronavirus surge in the fall and winter. According to the latest Johns Hopkins University data: 21 states are showing an upward trend in cases compared to the previous week, 19 states are showing steady trends, and 10 states are showing downward trends.
After months of promising signs in its fight against the coronavirus, New York State yesterday reported a spike in its rate of new cases, including a rise in New York City and in its northern suburbs. The rate of positive test results in the city reached 1.93 percent, according to Mayor, an increase from the 1.5 percent rate reported by the city a week ago.
Authorities in North Dakota are trying to ease concerns over hospital capacity as the state grapples with the country’s steepest current surge in coronavirus cases.
Wisconsin reported 2,817 new cases on Saturday, the state's highest single-day increase in cases. The previous record was set Sept. 18 with 2,533 cases.
Missouri again reported record-high COVID-19 hospitalizations. There were 1,125 patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 across Missouri on Sunday, the highest number the state has reported since the start of the pandemic.
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran has ordered Miami-Dade County Public Schools to fully open its buildings five days a week by Oct. 5. That’s more than two weeks earlier than the system, the fourth-largest in the country, had decided to do after a marathon 29-hour meeting last week.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an EO extending the state’s public health emergency.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed an EO requiring face coverings for students in grades K-5 and also signed an EO amending the MI Safe Start order to reopen movie theaters and performance venues.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) extended a proclamation related to the Washington residency requirement for public university tuition waivers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 17 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for COVID-19.
Citing "sufficient progress in the fight against COVID-19," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the easing of phase four guidelines for businesses starting Oct. 1.
A Maryland man was sentenced to a year in jail for holding two large parties and violating the state's order against large gatherings, according to the Charles County state's attorney's office.
Useful state data:
Use Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 U.S. map as a resource for media, policymakers, and communities to view a collection of critical public health data in one online destination and better understand and track the COVID-19 pandemic in populations both large and small across the country.
NASHP has developed a COVID-19 State Action Center which serves as a state-level policy dashboard. Governing is also keeping a running tally of coronavirus news and impacts at the intersection of the health and economic crises in the states and localities.
This site from the Kaiser Family Foundation provides state-level information on cases/deaths, social distancing measures, health policy actions, and more.
This series of maps shows how states are responding to COVID-19, and this tracker, created and maintained by MultiState Associates, has an up-to-date list of executive orders and various travel restrictions.
International Affairs
The WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update can be found here.
A new arrangement will allow for around 120 million rapid coronavirus tests to be distributed to low- and middle-income countries over the next six months, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced yesterday.
Greece on Sunday confirmed the first COVID-19 fatality in one of the country’s increasingly overburdened migrant and refugee camps.
People who do not self-isolate in England will now face fines of up to 10,000 pounds, or almost $13,000 USD, as the nation battles a second coronavirus wave.
Government officials in Marseille and Aix-en-Provence ordered bars, cafes, and restaurants to close for 15 days starting last evening. They are currently the only two cities in France under the new order.
India’s coronavirus caseload has surpassed six million.
A cruise ship carrying more than 1,500 people was turned back from the Greek island of Milos in the Aegean Sea after 12 crew members tested positive for COVID-19. The Mein Schiff 6, which sails under the flag of Malta, left Crete on Sunday and was off the coast of Milos early on Monday when the test results were released.
The municipal government in Beijing announced new procedures to allow medical personnel to bypass their bosses in reporting health emergencies directly to hotlines and government agencies. The rules are supposed to protect whistle-blowers’ identities and shield them from any retaliation.
The next Group of 20 summit meeting, which was scheduled to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will take place virtually on Nov. 21 and 22.
With Zimbabwe’s coronavirus infections on the decline, schools are reopening, along with churches, bars, restaurants, airports and tourist attractions. Strict lockdowns designed to curb transmission are being replaced by a return to relatively normal life.
A recent surge in infections in Morocco has led authorities to reinstitute strict lockdown measures. Marrakech is at a standstill, while police checks are part of the scenery in hard-hit Casablanca. In the northern city of Tangiers, military vehicles were deployed last month to help enforce measures there. Movement between the city and others was stopped, barring exceptional authorizations.
Beijing’s Municipal Commerce Bureau called on frozen food importers to avoid importing goods from COVID-19 hotspots.
A definitive count of coronavirus-related fatalities in Mexico will probably not be available for “a couple of years,” the country’s top health official predicted Sunday. As in most countries, Mexico’s official death toll — over 76,000 as of late last night, the fourth-highest total worldwide — is widely understood to be an undercount.
Melbourne, the epicenter of the Australia’s largest coronavirus outbreak, will no longer be subject to a curfew after today.
Kenya will extend its nightly COVID-19 curfew for another 60 days with shortened hours from 11 PM to 4 AM local time, but bars and the sale of alcohol in ordinary eateries will be permitted effective Tuesday.
Global Cases: 33,396,784 Total Deaths: 1,002,628 deaths (now surpassing 1 million deaths)
Lifestyle, Science, and Economy
Early results from Johnson & Johnson's Phase 1/2a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial found that 99 percent of the participants age 18 to 55 in both dose groups had developed antibodies against the virus 29 days after getting vaccinated. The analysis found that most of the side effects, like fever, headache, fatigue, body aches and injection-site pain, were mild and resolved after a couple of days. Phase 3 trials, which will involve around 60,000 individuals, will examine the safety and effectiveness of a single dose against a placebo to prevent symptomatic COVID-19.
Findings from a new literature review about the association between flu vaccines and the risk of severe COVID-19 illness suggest that measures aimed at raising influenza vaccination coverage in the coming months would be beneficial.
A recent study estimates that only around 9 percent of Americans had been infected with COVID-19 by July - far from what would be needed to achieve herd immunity.
A recent poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, surveyed around 3,500 respondents nationwide in July and early August and found that nearly half of American households faced lost jobs or pay cuts during the pandemic. According to the survey results, the share of households that had a member fall ill with COVID-19 and that subsequently have lost work is up to 64 percent. Of those that have had a sick household member, 63 percent report facing serious financial problems during the coronavirus outbreak. Of households that include someone who has a disability, 63 percent reported facing serious financial hardship, and 37 percent report using up all or most of their savings.
Researchers are increasingly concerned about the long-lasting mental health impacts of the pandemic and virus-related lockdowns. This concern is particularly acute for those with substance use disorder or related behavioral health issues. A University of Houston researcher, Michael Zvolensky said, "The impact of COVID-19 on psychological symptoms and disorders, addiction and health behavior is substantial and ongoing and will negatively impact people's mental health and put them at greater risk for chronic illness and drug addiction."
A new study has identified 2,085 excess deaths in England and Wales due to heart disease and stroke during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. On average, that is 17 deaths each day over four months that probably could have been prevented. The study's authors believe the excess deaths were caused by people not seeking emergency hospital treatment for a heart attack or other acute cardiovascular illness requiring urgent medical attention, either because they were afraid of contracting COVID-19 or were not referred for treatment.
The airline industry is about to take another large hit as airlines prepare to cut a combined 35,000 jobs this week.
There are now 8 clinical trials in Phase 3 of testing. The WHO keeps a running list of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, which you can view here. STAT News also has a resource tracking COVID-19 drugs and vaccines. The New York Times has a very helpful vaccine tracker as well, which you can view here.
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security has an extensive list of commercial and lab-developed tests.
The NIH Office of Portfolio Analysis’s (OPA) expert-curated portfolio of COVID-19 publications and preprints includes peer-reviewed articles from PubMed and preprints from medRxiv, bioRxiv, ChemRxiv, and arXiv. It is updated daily with the latest available data and enables users to explore and analyze the rapidly growing set of advances in COVID-19 research.
Read the CDC's September 25 Science Update here. As a reminder, the Science Update series provides brief summaries of new COVID-19-related studies on many topics, including epidemiology, clinical treatment and management, laboratory science, and modeling.
Here is last week’s COVIDView from CDC, a weekly summary and interpretation of key indicators that have been adapted to track the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.
Join a Facebook Live Q&A on reopening schools and workplaces with Joseph Allen, Director of the Healthy Buildings Program, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on Tuesday, September 22 at 12 PM.
In the latest kid-friendly pandemic video published by BrainPOP, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, explains to students of all ages the role they can play in controlling the spread of coronavirus.
MMWR Weekly COVID-19 Briefing is a weekly podcast to update readers on the latest scientific information from CDC’s COVID-19 response. In each episode, MMWR’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Charlotte Kent provides an overview of the latest scientific information published in MMWR. New episodes are posted every Monday. Listen to episodes here.
