This week, the commonwealth announced plans to launch a coronavirus exposure-notification app in early Sept. to more quickly break chains of transmission by using the new technology to notify people who may have been exposed. The state has a $1.9 million contract, using federal grant dollars, to deploy and maintain the app with software developer NearForm Ltd, the Ireland-based company whose app there has been downloaded by more than one-fourth of that country’s residents. The app is based on smartphone technology developed by Apple and Google, and will undergo a pilot project next week using state government employees and public health students, staff and faculty. In Sept., you can find the COVID Alert PA app for free to download in the Google Play store or Apple App store. This app is voluntary, but the more Pennsylvanians age 18 and older who adopt the app, the more successful efforts can be. The app does not enable any location services and is designed to be completely anonymous.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) created this list of resources, tools, and trainings.

In support of National Immunization Awareness Month, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recently launched Catch-Up to Get Ahead: A National Immunization Initiative for Children. This campaign aims to increase childhood immunization rates in the wake of significant declines due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Use messages and graphics in the Catch-Up to Get Ahead Toolkit to help spread awareness to parents and caregivers.

A new NIOSH webpage, Hazard Communication for Disinfectants Used Against Viruses, provides information on health hazards that could be caused by cleaning products and disinfectants. Also included are recommendations for barriers and respiratory protection that workers can use to protect themselves from these hazards.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) has released a Rural Crosswalk: CMS Flexibilities to Fight COVID-19 (also attached via Connect). This new resource documents all current COVID-19-related waivers and flexibilities issued by CMS that impact Rural Health Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Critical Access Hospitals, rural hospitals generally, and long-term care facilities, and describes the significance of each provision for these rural providers and facilities. This new resource can be found here: www.cms.gov/files/document/…

The Crosswalk is divided into six sections for easy navigation:

• Telehealth
• CMS Hospitals Without Walls
• Patients Over Paperwork
• Workforce
• Payment
• Additional guidance

CMS OMH created the Rural Crosswalk to boost providers’ understanding of the many CMS regulatory waivers and new rules that have been issued in response to COVID-19 since the start of the emergency declaration.

For more information and resources for rural providers, please visit go.cms.gov/ruralhealth. You can also contact us at RuralHealth@cms.hhs.gov or reach out to one of the CMS Regional Rural Health Coordinators.

As of August 13, 2020, at 10:30 am, there were 280,626 cumulative cases throughout Appalachia and 6,033 cumulative deaths.

As of August 12, 2020, there were 280,021 cumulative cases in Appalachia and a seven-day rolling average of 3,950 new cases per day (down from 4,225 a week ago) and 78 new deaths per day (up from 64 a week ago. The presence of COVID-19 has been confirmed in all 420 counties in the Appalachian Region.

Drawing on data from the Johns Hopkins University, COVID-19 Cases in Appalachia maps COVID-19’s spread in the Region in relation to the rest of the country. More county-level information regarding COVID-19 cases – including demographic data snapshots of confirmed cases and deaths in relation to hospital bed counts, population and businesses, and categories of people at risk for COVID-19 – can be found using this searchable database. By hovering over each statistical icon, users can learn more about the supporting data. COVID-19 related data is updated daily.

Since 2010, 130 rural hospitals have closed across the country and this crisis has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. NRHA has led the fight in getting Congress to provide relief to rural America whose older populations are being hit hard by the virus. Sustainable relief in the form of eliminating cuts to Medicaid will be crucial to the survival of rural hospitals in and after the pandemic. Eased restrictions on telemedicine must also be made permanent so that senior citizens in rural areas have better accessibility to care. The virus is spreading rapidly in rural areas where the meatpacking industry is located, and there are fears that the vulnerable population here will be especially hard hit.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced combined investments of $6.5 million in two commercial diagnostic laboratories to expand capacity to conduct up to 4 million additional SARS-CoV-2 tests per month. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. The investments in Aegis Sciences Corporation and in Sonic Healthcare USA will provide critical laboratory equipment supplied by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and Thermo Fisher Scientific and increase staffing and infrastructure to allow the U.S. to perform an additional 1 million tests each week by early October.

Representative Troy Balderson plans to introduce the bipartisan Rural Equal Aid Act in the House of Representatives, aimed at supporting USDA loan borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, Senators Tester and Romney introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate. This legislation would subsidize payments on loans made under certain rural development loan programs, similar to Small Business Administration (SBA) loans given to urban businesses. The bill would provide six months of payments to current USDA Rural Development program borrowers, including rural businesses and nonprofits, through four USDA loan programs.