The challenges and uncertainty during the pandemic have reinforced the importance of strong leadership and the value of mentorship, writes Lindsey Dunn Burgstahler, vice president, programming and intelligence, AHA Center for Health Innovation.
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) News
Below are links to AHA Today stories on novel coronavirus (COVID-19). For all coronavirus resources and news updates, visit our COVID-19 page.
Latest
The House Education & Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing on science-based strategies to protect workers from COVID-19.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued updated visitation guidance for nursing homes, noting that more than 3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered to nursing home residents and staff.
President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, which includes a number of provisions that affect hospitals and health systems.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed many of the things that shape our lives: our relationships, our work, our interactions with technology and one another. And although it has undoubtedly changed leaders, it hasn’t changed what we know about leadership.
The AHA released AHA Hospitals in Action: Supporting Care Teams, compiling hospitals’ and health systems’ stories on ways they are supporting health care workers’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the use of “lavender carts,” time-out rooms and easily accessible mental health programs.
President Biden, citing the need for maximum flexibility in the nation’s vaccination program, announced a deal for the U.S. government to purchase an additional 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine.
The House of Representatives voted 220-211 to approve the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, which includes a number of provisions that affect hospitals and health systems.
Cities, counties and other local governments may apply through April 20 for grants to work with community-based organizations to encourage COVID-19 safety and vaccination in vulnerable and underserved populations.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized the first molecular test to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a nasal swab at home without a prescription. Cue Health expects by summer to daily produce more than 100,000 of the tests, authorized for use in patients age 2 and older.
A recent report from RAND “misses the mark on solutions to the cost of health care and draws its conclusions from the same recycled and incomplete studies,” writes AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack.
Mask mandates last year were associated with declining growth in daily COVID-19 cases and deaths within 20 days, while on-premises restaurant dining was associated with rising cases after 40 days and rising death rates after 60 days, according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A recent report from RAND misses the mark on solutions to the cost of health care and draws its conclusions from the same recycled and incomplete studies.
The National Institutes of Health has halted a clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in emergency department patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms and at least one risk factor for severe COVID-19 after an independent board concluded from the data that the treatment was unlikely to help such patients.
President Biden today announced a major partnership between Johnson & Johnson and Merck to manufacture the latest COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized for emergency use in the U.S.
The AHA, American Medical Association, American Health Care Association, National Association for Home Care & Hospice, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and Association for Clinical Oncology urged Senate leaders to extend the moratorium on the Medicare sequester cuts beyond March 31.
The Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
The House of Representatives voted 219-212 to approve a modified version of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, legislation to provide reconciliation protection for a roughly $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, which includes a number of provisions that affect hospitals and health systems.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released guidance clarifying federal requirements for health plans to cover certain items and services related to diagnostic testing for COVID-19 without cost-sharing, prior authorization or other medical management requirements.
The Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee recommended the approval of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.