U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Intergovernmental Affairs
Please see the advisory below from our partners in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regarding an update on the Whole-of-America response to COVID-19.
April 30, 2020
FEMA Advisory
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: Whole-of-America Response
Attached you will find today’s FEMA Daily Briefing Points for the Whole-of-America response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These briefing points include Topline Messages, as well as Supply Chain Task Force; By the Numbers; FEMA and Department of Health and Human Services Response; and Guidance from Federal Agencies.
Topline messaging includes:
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On April 27 , President Trump unveiled the Opening Up America Again Testing Overview and Testing Blueprint designed to facilitate state development and implementation of the robust testing plans and rapid response programs described in the President’s Guidelines for Opening Up America Again.
- The President’s Testing Blueprint sets forth the partnership between federal, state, local, and tribal governments, along with the private-sector and professional associations, all of which will play important roles in meeting the Nation’s testing needs.
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To support the Administration’s Testing Blueprint, FEMA, at the direction of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, is working to source and procure testing material – specifically, testing swabs and transport media.
- The FEMA-sourced material will be provided to states, territories and tribes for a limited duration to help increase testing capacity in support of their individualized reopening and testing plans.
- Once sourced and procured, the intent is to have this material shipped directly to a single location within each state, territory or tribe for their ultimate distribution.
- Each state, territory and tribal will develop its own distribution strategy to align with its testing plan and unique needs.
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On April 29 , the National Institutes of Health announced positive results of a trial using Remdesivir, an investigational broad-spectrum antiviral treatment administered via daily infusions.
- Hospitalized patients with advanced COVID-19 and lung involvement who received Remdesivir recovered, on average, faster than similar patients who received placebo.
- The preliminary data analysis was from a randomized, controlled trial involving 1,063 patients.
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President Trump signed an executive order to keep meat processing plants open to ensure the continued supply of beef, pork, and poultry to the American people. The order uses the Defense Production Act to classify meat processing as critical infrastructure.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have put out guidance for plants to implement to help ensure employee safety.
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As of April 29 , CDC, state, and local public health labs and other laboratories have tested more than 5.8 million samples.
- States should be making full use of the testing resources available to them, to include leveraging the full capacity available through commercial laboratories in addition to the capability provided through state laboratories.
- HHS and FEMA have expanded items supplied by the International Reagent Resource (IRR) to help public health labs access free diagnostics supplies and reagents.
- To date, the FDA has issued 50 individual emergency use authorizations for test kit manufacturers and laboratories.
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As of April 29 , FEMA, HHS, and the private sector combined have coordinated the delivery of or are currently shipping: 77.9 million N95 respirators, 111.7 million surgical masks, 7.2 million face shields, 16.1 million surgical gowns, 888.5 million gloves, 10,653 ventilators and 8,450 federal medical station beds.
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FEMA Mission
To help people before, during, and after disasters.