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Coronavirus Update From Congressman Andy Barr
As your Representative in Congress, I want to give you another update on our fight against the 2019 novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). As we grapple with this public health emergency, our physical isolation from one another, and the resulting shutdown of our economy, let us again express our appreciation for the amazing, talented and selfless doctors, nurses and health care workers who continue to put their own health, and the health of their families, at risk as they take care of the sick in our hospitals, doctors offices and health care clinics. We also give thanks to our first responders, those helping to find resources for the unemployed, our elderly population and the vulnerable, and the scientists, innovators and pharmaceutical industry professionals working overtime to find therapies, vaccines and a cure. To be sure, this is a difficult time in the life of our country. But I know you join me, in this hour of trial, in recognizing the exceptional character of the American people who, with unwavering determination, are working hard, day by day, to meet, confront and overcome this great challenge. If you find this update to be helpful, and you would like to receive my regular e-newsletter, please sign up by visiting https://barr.house.gov/newsletter-subscription.
Progress on Availability of Diagnostic Testing
While there is still much more work to be done, the public-private partnership on diagnostic testing for COVID-19 has made progress over the last week expanding access to testing in Kentucky and across the nation. As of 6:30 p.m. EDT, Sunday, March 22, more than 254,000 Americans had been tested for COVID-19, with over 31,000 testing positive, including over 100 confirmed cases in Kentucky. According to Vice President Mike Pence and Admiral Brett Giroir, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, who is leading the COVID-19 testing efforts for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, those numbers reflect tests plus results. Those numbers do not count people whose tests are in process or tests conducted by local hospitals or laboratories. So at this point, only about one out of every ten Americans who exhibit some symptoms sufficient to justify a test end up with a positive result. That ratio is expected to decrease even further as testing expands.
In the most hard-hit parts of the country, testing remains limited to health care workers, hospital patients and the severely ill. But since high volume commercial laboratories, including LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics and hundreds of smaller private laboratories, have spun up to supplement the public health and academic laboratories, availability of testing has improved significantly. As Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently said, “Now that we have the private sector involved, the availability...and the implementation of the availability [of testing] is getting better and better and better.”
For now, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued guidance urging all commercial laboratories to prioritize in-patient testing to get the highest risk patients the fastest results. To keep our heroic health care workers safe and “on the battlefield,” they too deserve prioritization. But as former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote this morning in the Wall Street Journal, “[b]y the end of next week, the U.S. will have the capacity in place to screen more than 75,000 people a day.” This should allow the U.S. to contain the virus in locations that have experienced less severe spread and prevent a recurrence after we get through the initial phase of the contagion.
At the request of Lexington epidemiologists, I urged the Vice President’s office and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expedite validation and approval of several different new and promising diagnostic tests. To date, the FDA has issued at least six emergency use authorizations for higher through-put COVID-19 diagnostic tests, including a Roche Diagnostics test that can be performed in 3.5 hours and a Cepheid, Inc. test that takes approximately 45 minutes. While Kentucky hospitals increasingly gain access to faster test results, including access to a private laboratory that is turning around test results within 24 hours, I continue to urge the FDA and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to do what is required to get the Roche and Cepheid tests directly in the hospitals.
To support this work, on March 4, I voted for H.R. 6074, the bipartisan Coronavirus Preparedness Response and Supplemental Appropriations Act, which provided funds to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA to support expansion of diagnostic testing. In addition, on March 14, I voted for H.R. 6201, the bipartisan Families First Coronavirus Response Act, to guarantee free COVID-19 testing for all Americans, including Americans who don’t have health insurance.
Update on Personal Protective Equipment for Health Care Workers
We are all so proud of the amazing, selfless and talented doctors, nurses and health care professionals working on the frontlines of this crisis, courageously caring for patients during this pandemic. In consultation with hospital administrators and doctors throughout the Sixth District, I have been working diligently to secure for Kentucky critical personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect our health care professionals battling this virus.
Last week, I coordinated a resupply of PPE from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), the nation’s largest supply of potentially life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. This delivered to Kentucky invaluable medical equipment including 99,443 surgical masks, 55,989 face shields, 45,649 surgical gowns, 234 coveralls, 162,541 gloves, and 41,744 N95 respirator masks.
This weekend, working with colleagues in Congress across the country, I continued my efforts to successfully assist Kentucky hospitals and doctors identify opportunities to procure additional PPE. I advocated with the White House, the FDA and colleagues in Congress to modify a bureaucratic rule that would allow Kentucky bourbon distillers to donate their alcohol to manufacture and amplify the supply of hand sanitizer. And I successfully advocated for the inclusion of $1.7 billion in the fiscal stimulus bill to procure additional PPE for the Strategic National Stockpile and America’s frontline health care workers.
Earlier today, I received a briefing from the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response with the HHS on the Strategic National Stockpile. I can report that the SNS has a reserve, and that HHS is managing that reserve with per rata allocations to the states and ongoing purchases of supplies from manufacturers, and that the Commonwealth can make additional requests at any time.
In addition to advocating for an additional shipment of PPE from the SNS for Kentucky, I asked for a list of manufacturers responding to an HHS request for proposals from two weeks ago, in which the federal government guaranteed purchase of 500 million additional N95 respirator masks in addition to other PPE, so that Kentucky hospital systems can contract directly as the private sector ramps up production. The first of those 500 million N95s should be available for shipping this week. I also urged HHS to update reimbursement guidelines from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on telemedicine within hospitals to help doctors and nurses conserve PPE. I stand ready to continue my work with Kentucky hospitals to protect our doctors and nurses from infection.
Lastly, FEMA is asking for companies looking to sell or donate medical supplies, equipment or services as part of the COVID-19 response to use this link to find out how they can help.
Update on Economic Stimulus Legislation
Finally, I have been working hard from Kentucky via conference calls with my colleagues in Congress on a bold and aggressive economic rescue package. Negotiations on final details continue, but the legislation is designed to give individuals, families and businesses relief from the government-imposed shutdown of the economy. The following are summaries of a few key provisions:
Recovery rebates
For families, the plan proposes to put recovery checks of $1,200 into the hands of all individuals with adjusted gross income up to $75,000 or $112,500 in the case of those with a head of household filing status. All married couples, with adjusted gross income up to $150,000 who file a joint return, are eligible for $2,400. Those amounts increase by $500 for every child. The rebate amount is reduced by $5 for each $100 a taxpayer’s income exceeds the phase-out threshold. The amount is completely phased-out for single filers with incomes exceeding $99,000, $136,500 for head of household filers, and $198,000 for joint filers.
Use of retirement funds
The legislation would waive the 10-percent early withdrawal penalty for distributions up to $100,000 from qualified retirement accounts for Coronavirus-related purposes made on or after January 1, 2020. In addition, income attributable to such distributions would be subject to tax over three years, and the taxpayer may recontribute the funds to an eligible retirement plan within three years without regard to that year’s cap on contributions.
Small business interruption loans
For small businesses with less than 500 employees, including sole-proprietors, independent contractors, and other self-employed individuals, the legislation would provide a 100 percent government guarantee of loans not to exceed $10 million made through December 31, 2020. Allowable uses of the loan would include payroll support, such as employee salaries, paid sick or medical leave, insurance premiums, mortgage payments, and any other debt obligations. The program would require eligible borrowers to make a good faith certification they have been impacted by COVID-19 and will use the funds to retain workers, maintain payroll and other debt obligations and sets out parameters for full-time equivalent employees. The program would waive collateral and personal guarantee requirements.
The legislation would also establish that the borrower is eligible for loan forgiveness equal to the amount spent by the borrower during an 8-week period after the origination date of the loan on payroll costs, interest payment on any mortgage incurred prior to February 15, 2020, payment of rent on any lease in force prior to February 15, 2020, and payment on any utility for which service began before February 15, 2020. The amount forgiven will be reduced proportionally by any reduction in employees retained compared to the prior year and reduced by the reduction in pay of any employee beyond 25 percent of their prior year compensation. Borrowers which re-hire workers previously laid off will not be penalized for having a reduced payroll at the beginning of the period.
To incentivize lenders to participate in this program, the legislation would defer the regulatory capital risk weight of loans made under this program, and provide temporary relief from troubled debt restructuring (TDR) disclosures for loans under this program. I specifically advocated for these reforms on behalf of Kentucky community banks, credit unions and their borrowers, which will allow financial institutions to modify loan terms and provide necessary accommodations for borrowers in their time of need.
Gratitude
Americans continue to contribute their skills, efforts and talents to fight this virus and I know you join me in gratitude for their tireless efforts. Americans are leading the fight against this insidious pandemic, and together we will defeat it. So again, to our doctors, nurses and hospital workers, to the public servants responding to this crisis at the federal, state and local levels, including our first responders, and to the scientists, investigators and innovators in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries working to develop and bring to market diagnostics, therapies and vaccines, thank you.
I continue to seek your feedback and ideas as Congress works on these bold solutions and legislative initiatives. You can always reach out to my Lexington office (859) 219-1366 or my Washington office (202) 225-4706 with your input. Lastly, if you would like to stay informed on what is happening in Washington, D.C. and around the Sixth Congressional District, again, I encourage you to sign up to receive my e-newsletter by visiting https://barr.house.gov/newsletter-subscription.
Sincerely,
Andy Barr
Member of Congress |