STATE NEWS
Kansas COVID-19 Cluster Summary
As of March 23rd, there are 3 long-term care facilities with clusters and two are LeadingAge Kansas Members.
Statewide Active COVID-19 Clusters
- Clusters: 90
- Cases: 2,551
- Hospitalizations: 28
Kansas COVID-19: Case Rates
- Cases: 769,598
- Total Case Rate Per 1,000: 264.17
- Daily Cases Diagnosed: 1
Long-Term Care Facilities with Active Cluster Case Information
- Clusters: 71
- Cases: 1,437
- Hospitalizations: 26
Source: https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas
FEDERAL NEWS
Provider Relief Fund 2nd Period Reporting Deadline – March 31, 2022, at 11:59 PM ET
Providers must submit their reports to HRSA for PRF funds received between July 1 – December 31, 2020. This includes Phase 2 and 3 funds plus Nursing Home Infection Control (NHIC) payments and related Quality Incentive Payments (QIP). The latter are considered targeted payments and therefore, the nursing home that received them must report on how they were used for infection control expenses. Even if a nursing home is part of a larger organization, their parent organization cannot report for them on the NHIC and QIP payments. This reporting period also is the first-time assisted living and home and community-based services providers have had to report. Members can contact Nicole Fallon if they have questions on reporting or are unsure which payments must be reported upon.
CDC Community Transmission Rates for Healthcare Settings
LeadingAge national has received several questions lately about the CDC Community Transmission Rates by which nursing homes determine the frequency of routine staff screening testing. Despite CDC’s recent release of COVID Community Levels, nursing homes should continue to access Community Transmission Rates to determine testing frequency. The Community Transmission Rates continue to be identified by red-orange-yellow-blue coding. If you are looking at green/blue coding, you are looking at the wrong rates. The easiest way to access the Community Transmission Rates is to go to the CDC Recommendations for Healthcare Settings and click on the link to community transmission rates link at the top of the page.
LEADINGAGE KANSAS NEWS
We Look Forward to Joining You for Our Weekly Webinar this Friday at 10 AM
Get the latest on COVID, CMS, the Legislature and more each Friday at 10 AM. If you haven’t registered for future calls, you can do so here. If you would like to listen to updates you have missed, visit this page.
LEADINGAGE NATIONAL NEWS
Coronavirus Update Calls This Week and Next
An epidemiologist’s view on the next phase of the pandemic – what should aging services providers be watching and doing?
On Wednesday, March 23rd, at 2:30pm CT, we will welcome back “your local epidemiologist” Dr. Katelyn Jetelina to talk about the risks that still exist around COVID-19. Dr. Jetelina will help us decipher the current trends surrounding transmission and risk and describe how LeadingAge members can communicate with residents and staff about the ongoing risks of COVID-19. If you haven’t registered for LeadingAge Update Calls, you can do so here. You can also find previous call recordings here.
There will be no Update Calls on Monday, March 28th, and Wednesday, March 30th, as LeadingAge staff will be joining Congressional and Executive branch staff in providing live updates at the LeadingAge Leadership Summit.
LeadingAge Statement on the Need for More Provider Relief
Katie Sloan released a statement today calling on Congress to continue the Medicare Sequestration “holiday” and to provide $23B in new Provider Relief Funds for aging services organizations [i.e., health-related organizations that are qualified for the HHS administered Provider Relief Fund]. “Without these funds, countless aging services providers across the country may be forced to close their doors to the people who need them most,” said Katie in the statement. Provider Relief funds are not in the Administration’s plan or the plan that Congress is currently discussing, though it is unclear whether any COVID relief package will be able to be enacted. It is critical that lawmakers hear from LeadingAge and its provider members that more assistance is needed. LeadingAge sent a letter to Congressional leadership last week with this PRF request. LeadingAge will be sending out an Action Alert to members on Wednesday, March 23rd, on PRF to urge them to contact Congress with the same message and to share their individual story of the financial effects of the pandemic.
VACCINATION NEWS
Kansas COVID-19 Vaccination Overview as of 3/23/2022
- 4,241,962 Total Doses Reported as Administered
– First Dose: 1,951,151
– Second Dose: 1,578,143
– Third Dose: 712,669 - 5,470,410 Total Doses Distributed
– State Distributed: 3,007,600 - 62.3% of Kansans Vaccinated with One Dose
- 54.1% of Kansas Completed COVID-19 Vaccine Series
Source: https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/158/Data
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