FDA gives Quest EUA for their at-home sample collection kit for COVID-19 testing; Plans to produce 500k units by end of June
Trump Administration bungled distribution of initial remdesivir doses; Gave doses to hospitals that were lacking ICUs, patients, or the ability to store it properly
Ginkgo Bioworks raises $70M to apply its DNA sequencing infrastructure to growing DNA-based COVID-19 testing to massive scale
Joint Commission to resume hospital inspections in June after pausing most activity on March 16 due to the pandemic
Mayo Clinic leads "The Fight Is In Us" campaign to solicit convalescent plasma donations from people who have recovered from COVID-19; Microsoft, Uber Health are among companies supporting effort through donations of technology and services
FDA says it abruptly shut down Gates-backed Seattle coronavirus study for lacking EUA, institutional review board ethics approvals
CDC now saying antibody tests shouldn't be used for determining individual immunity; In certain scenarios 'less than half of those testing positive will truly have antibodies'
How Iora Health responded to COVID-19 by quickly shifting to a virtual care model and then fundamentally redesigning their care processes
Twenty hospitals with $108B+ in cash reserves between them received $5B+ of CARES Act grants to cover losses related to COVID-19
New remdesivir trial shows reduction in COVID-19 recovery time from 15 to 11 days; Benefits shown to decline as case severity increases with little effect on ventilated patients
New hydroxychloroquine & chloroquine study doesn't demonstrate efficacy against COVID-19, but shows 2-3x increased risk of heart distress
VigiLanz and Datica offer 'COVID Quick Start' software free for six months; Helps providers respond to infectious disease outbreaks
UPMC using lottery to determine which patients receive remdesivir doses; Weighted to favor essential workers, economically distressed neighborhoods
HHS begins distributing CARES grants to skilled nursing facilities; Each SNF will receive $50K plus $2.5K per bed
Alabama, North Dakota, and South Carolina become the first states to announce they'll use Apple and Google's exposure notification API
Immunity passports are reliant on an incomplete understanding of COVID-19 convalescent immunity, based on inaccurate and unavailable testing, and pose risks to fundamental human rights
As independent and research labs quickly pivoted to build COVID-19 testing capacity, established purchasing and EHR workflows prevented providers from utilizing them
Survey says 50% of primary care doctors report no income from virtual visits in the last 4 weeks, with 13% predicting practice closure due to finances within the next month
Fitbit launches COVID-19 study; Attempting to use Fitbit data to detect coronavirus infection before onset of symptoms
BARDA gives $1B to AstraZeneca to develop coronavirus vaccine from Oxford University; No trials on the vaccine are complete, and AZ is promising 1 billion doses with delivery starting in September
More insurers are discounting 2020 premiums as a way of getting ahead of predicted large MLR rebates in 2021; Including for profit and non-profit plans
Apple and Google make exposure notification API available; 22 countries and multiple states that requested access will now be able to release apps that access the API
Mount Sinai Health System researchers publish study showing AI was able to detect COVID-19 in 17 of 25 lung CT scans that presented as normal
CRISPR pioneer Mammoth Biosciences cuts commercialization deal with GlaxoSmithKline to develop and market CRISPR-based COVID-19 diagnostics
Analysis: How medical supply chains work, and how federal response to supply chain troubles in times of pandemic can be improved
Experts say Moderna hasn't released enough information to properly assess early COVID-19 vaccine trial results
Rhode Island hires Infosys to create COVID-19 contact tracing app; "CRUSH COVID RI" app uses location tracking to create a location diary for each user
Lab test volumes are slowly recovering to normal levels, with some labs seeing higher than normal volume due to COVID-19 testing
Gilead donates additional 300k remdesivir doses to federal government, enough to treat 30 - 55k more patients
Experts opine on how COVID-19 could change U.S. healthcare industry, including telemedicine, employer-sponsored insurance, nursing homes, drug pricing, scope of practice
CMS says nursing homes should stay closed to visitors until they have no new COVID-19 cases for 28 days and should test workers weekly
Verily launches COVID-19 antibody study to examine immune response; Partnering with Rite Aid for sample collection, and offering tests to anyone who previously received a swab test via Verily
MIT researchers are developing a protein-based paper test for COVID-19; Intended to allow PPE-free sample collection, be field stable, and deliver results in 10 minutes
COVID-19 has exposed how the pharmaceutical market model fails to incentivize infectious disease drugs as demand is unpredictable and generally led by the poor
Some states are forging ahead with their own contact tracing apps, ranging from GPS tracking to personal contact diaries
Florida lab botched 35,000 COVID-19 tests, forcing AdventHealth to toss results and ask to test patients again
Medline, the quiet behemoth medical supply company, adapts to steep declines in its profit centers and rising costs stemming from involvement in Project Airbridge, a federal program to source more PPE from abroad
New York partners with CVS to double state's testing capacity; Adding testing to 60+ pharmacies in the state
Moderna reports positive Phase 1 coronavirus vaccine data; Antibodies were detected in all participants after 2 vaccine injections. If successful, targeting early 2021 launch.
Everlywell gets FDA authorization for standalone COVID-19 sample collection kit; Can be sent to numerous different labs for testing
Experts opine on a reasonable pricing strategy for remdesivir, with suggested prices ranging between $12.50 and "impossible to overpay"
Whistleblower complaint alleges influential Stanford Santa Clara coronavirus prevalence study used improper methodologies and was subject to influence from donors
FDA abruptly orders Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network, a Gates-backed initiative to do broad coronavirus testing, to stop performing tests and reporting results pending review
Fitbit to request Emergency Use Authorization from FDA for a ventilator prototype; Targeting mid-range functionality and price
UnitedHealth and Microsoft to partner on 'ProtectWell' app, which screens employees for COVID-19 symptoms; Offered free to all employers
Hospitals are facing unprecedented drops in revenue due to coronavirus & readying for a shifting insurance landscape. Some are dipping into investments to fund shortfalls, while others are reliant on federal relief to keep operating
NY nursing home groups tell Governor Cuomo that compliance with twice-weekly testing requirement for nursing home workers is logistically impossible
