STATE NEWS
- Latest KDHE COVID-19 LTC Stats (as of October 20, 2021)
- Thirteen long-term care buildings in geographically dispersed locations each have 5 or more COVID-19 positive cases during the last reporting period
- Click on COVID-19 Quality Metrics button in the 12-grid dashboard here for more details
- Your Current County Positivity Rate
- Publicly Reported Staff Vaccination Rates by Individual Kansas Nursing Home
- Kansas COVID-19 Vaccination Rankings Overall for Each County (not long-term care specific)Kansas counties are ranked on each of three COVID measures: 1) Vaccination rate1, 2) Average number of COVID cases and 3) Average number of COVID tests given.
FEDERAL NEWS
PHE Renewed for Another 90 Days
The COVID-19 federal public health emergency was extended for another 90 days, effective today. With this renewal, the Coronavirus Waivers (1135 and 1812(f) waivers) have also been extended. CMS has the authority to terminate these waivers at any time but have said that they would provide advance notice prior to terminating any waivers. The PHE renewal is available here and the Coronavirus Waivers document is available here.
HHS Inspector General to Look at NHSN Reporting
The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) revised its work plan to include a study of “Nursing Home Reporting of COVID-19 Data to the National Healthcare Safety Network.” Since May 2020, nursing homes have been required to report to the NHSN. Over time, LeadingAge members are finding the reporting burden vastly increased, with consequent demands on precious staff resources. The study will evaluate CDC’s processes for nursing home NHSN reporting. It will assess oversight and identify challenges. Little additional information is available on the planned study except that the expected issue date is 2022.
HHS Monoclonal Distributions This Week
Here is the HHS spreadsheet with mAB distributions for this week. The Covid Team notes that this weeks’ distribution includes REGEN-COV, bam/ete, and sotrovimab. They add that “updated information regarding sotrovimab can be found on phe.gov/mabs here.” Additionally, they sent supplemental information “…you may find useful regarding the packaging, labeling and storage of the REGEN-COV product included in this week’s distribution. Should you have any questions regarding this week’s distribution determinations, please contact the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (HHS/ASPR) at COVID19Therapeutics@hhs.gov. If you have shipping or tracking questions, contact the distributor (AmerisourceBergen) at C19Therapies@amerisourcebegergen.com.”
Evidence for Conditions that Increase Risk of Severe Illness
CDC updated its list of underlying medical conditions that put adults of any age at higher risk for severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19; these updates are based on evidence from published reports, scientific articles in press, unreviewed pre-prints, and internal data. Updates to the following conditions were completed based on evidence from the date range below: Chronic lung disease (including bronchiectasis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary embolism, tuberculosis) and chronic liver disease (including cirrhosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, and autoimmune hepatitis) were added in September based on evidence published between December 1, 2019 and August 31, 2021 using the updated review methods outlined below. Mental health disorders (such as mood disorders including depression, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders) were added in September based on evidence published between December 1, 2019, and August 31, 2021. No conditions were removed from the previous underlying medical conditions list.
VACCINATION NEWS
Guidance for Fully Vaccinated People
CDC updated their guidance for fully vaccinated people. Specifically, CDC recommends fully vaccinated people get tested 5-7 days after close contact with a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. The previous guidance had been 3-5 days. CDC also provided additional information describing what vaccines qualify people as fully vaccinated and how to interpret vaccine records. These changes are reflected in the CDC’s webpage, “When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated,” as well.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
No Weekly Webinar this Friday
There will be no call this week, October 22nd as we will be wrapping up our Fall Conference. We will resume on October 29th and feature members who are getting their vaccination rates above 75%. If you haven’t already, register here for upcoming calls through the end of the year.
LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS
LeadingAge Coronavirus Update Calls
Is natural immunity to COVID as good as a vaccine, or at least good enough? How can we prevent or manage breakthrough infections? Join us on the Call on Wednesday, October 20th at 2:30 PM, Dr. Jeffrey Townsend of Yale University will talk about a study he led that was published in the Lancet (on October 1, 2021), discussing immunity after COVID-19 recovery, the chances for reinfection, and the need for boosters. If you haven’t registered for LeadingAge Update Calls, you can do so here.
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