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

by Priya Bathija
There are many ways to make the difficult work facing our health care heroes just a little bit easier.
AHA featured in numerous media publications.
by Robert Trestman, M.D.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created stresses that most health care workers have never experienced, writes Robert Trestman, M.D., of Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va., and 2020 chair-elect of AHA’s Behavioral Health Council.
The AHA is running ads in Axios newsletters to highlight hospitals and health systems efforts in response to COVID-19.
he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its FAQs on COVID-19 laboratory testing and reporting. Topics include accessing laboratory testing, data and reporting, serology testing and ordering supplies.
Clinicians who participate in a clinical trial for a drug or biological product to treat a patient with novel coronavirus may now earn credit in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced.
The Bipartisan Policy Center released a new report examining the immense challenges facing the U.S. rural health care system as highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hospitals’ already thin margins plunged into the red in March as non-emergency procedures and revenues fell and expenses for staff, supplies and building capacity rose to prepare for a surge in COVID-19 patients, according to a new report by health care consultancy Kaufman Hall.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized the first diagnostic test with a home collection option for COVID-19.
A panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health released COVID-19 treatment guidelines for health care providers, which will be updated as new data become available.
The FBI warned today of specific COVID-19-themed email phishing campaigns targeting U.S.-based medical providers.
The Food and Drug Administration said that it will temporarily forgo action against 503A compounding pharmacies that provide to hospitals certain compounded drugs without patient-specific prescriptions.
by Robyn Begley, DNP, RN, CEO of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership
When the World Health Assembly designated 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, they had no idea a pandemic would envelop the world the same year. The convergence of these events is a poignant reminder of nurses’ vital role in caring for patients, comforting families and protecting the health of the community.
The Department of Health and Human Services created a page with resources for health care planning and infectious disease, among others.
AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack responded to a recent commentary in the Washington Post that suggested hospital consolidation has contributed to fewer beds being available to treat COVID-19 patients.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began publishing limited racial and ethnic data on coronavirus cases.
by Melinda L. Estes, M.D.
America’s health care workforce is among the most highly skilled and highly trained in the world. But the COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges and exacerbated others.
Even in normal times, health care delivery is hard and tiring work. The COVID-19 pandemic makes it more critical than ever that our care providers find ways to recharge and keep up the fight.
by Rick Pollack
America’s hospitals and health systems have been intensely focused on preparing to care for patients suffering from the novel coronavirus. From the very outset of the outbreak, hospitals have significantly transformed their operations – from the use of virtual care to devising solutions to deal with the shortages of drugs and equipment, such as ventilators – to respond aggressively to the pandemic.
The Food and Drug Administration encouraged those who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma for the creation of convalescent plasma, an antibody-rich investigational therapy that may help others fight the disease.