COVID-19

“ COVID-19 continues to exact a tremendous toll on our nation. Like you, I want to be able to return to everyday activities and engage with our friends, families, and communities. Science and the protection of public health must guide us as we begin to resume these activities.
Today’s action represents an important first step; it is not our final destination. As more people get vaccinated, levels of COVID-19 infection decline in communities. ”

“ The Task Force shall submit a final report to the COVID–19 Response Coordinator addressing any ongoing health inequities faced by COVID–19 survivors that may merit a public health response, describing the factors that contributed to disparities in COVID–19 outcomes, and recommending actions to combat such disparities in future pandemic responses. (c) Data Collection. ”

“ DR. WALENSKY: Thank you so much, Andy. I’m so glad to be back and joining you today. Today, I’m going to give you a brief update on the pandemic. As I mentioned on Friday, despite trends moving in the right direction, we remain in a very serious situation. COVID-19 continues to affect too many people, as we continue to mourn all of those lives that have been lost. ”

“ And while guidance is critical to informing decisions making for — decision making for COVID-19 testing, it’s equally important that testing programs and communities are supported with resources to do the work. ”

“ But then you find out there’s a high risk of you getting infected with COVID-19 because of your condition. You and your loved one — and you and your loved ones have ever even greater risk of death and serious illness because of the preexisting conditions, so you turn it down. ”

“ In addition, people who spend time with individuals at increased risk of severe illness should consider taking extra precautions even when the COVID-19 Community Level is low. At any level, people with or around those with higher risk for serious illness, people with symptoms of COVID-19 or individuals who are not up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations who had exposure to someone with COVID-19, or a positive test should take extra precautions to protect themselves and others. ”

“ In collaboration with the people of this country, the United States government will lead an effective COVID-19 response that turns this crisis into a crucible, from which our nation will forge a stronger, better, and more equitable future. ”

“ National Public Health Week has increased significance this year, as our Nation mourns the loss of more than half a million lives to COVID–19, and as we have come to recognize just how essential our public health efforts and public health workers truly are. ”

“ The virus does not survive as well in droplets of saliva. And that's important because a lot of testing being done is not necessarily being done, number one, with the COVID-19 virus, and number two, in saliva or respiratory fluids.
And thirdly, the virus dies the quickest in the presence of direct sunlight under these conditions. And when you — when you look at that chart, look at the aerosol as you breathe it; you put it in a room, 70 to 75 degrees, 20 percent humidity, low humidity, it lasts — the half-life is about an hour. ”

“ The COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force will provide recommendations for addressing health inequities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and for preventing such inequities in the future
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to plague the country, it has had a disproportionate impact on some of our most vulnerable communities. Shortly after COVID-19 was first identified in the United States, disparities in testing, cases, hospitalizations, and mortality began to emerge. ”

“ I also noted that while the Federal Government, along with State and local governments, have taken preventive and proactive measures to slow the spread of the virus and to treat those affected, the spread of COVID–19 within our Nation’s communities threatens to strain our Nation’s healthcare systems. ”

“ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , the Surgeon General, and the National Institutes of Health have concluded that mask-wearing, physical distancing, appropriate ventilation, and timely testing can mitigate the risk of travelers spreading COVID–19. ”

“ The war against COVID-19 is far from over, far from won. The worst thing we could do right now would be to mistake progress for victory. If we let our guard down now, we will see more of our fellow Americans get sick and die unnecessarily. ”

“ Over the past year, the virus keeps reminding us that the risks of actually getting COVID are quite significant. It’s cost us more than 500,000 friends and family members and has led to hospitalizations and prolonged symptoms for many, many more. ”

“ So as we approach this winter season, I recognize that we’ve made incredible progress, turning the tide since those tragic times. Now, just a month ago, California achieved the lowest level of COVID-19 transmission of any state in the nation. But today, cases are beginning to rise again. ”

“ However, our findings demonstrate the power of screening all potentially exposed persons and show that early containment can be implemented and used in the middle of national COVID-19 outbreak. By testing all potentially exposed persons and their contacts to facilitate the isolation of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 case-patients, we might have helped interrupt transmission chains. In light of the shift to a global pandemic, we recommend that public health authorities conduct active surveillance and epidemiologic investigation in this rapidly evolving landscape of COVID-19. ”

“ Reliable and widely available testing is a crucial part of our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. But several factors can make testing strategy decisions complex, including the different kinds of tests available, the changing dynamics of the pandemic in communities, and the increasing proliferation of new variants that are more transmissible. ”

“ This law also provides much-needed help to nearly 1,400 Community Health Centers that serve our most vulnerable populations, who are at the highest risk of infection and adverse outcomes from COVID–19. ”

“ A week ago, in our first COVID response briefing, we committed to providing you with transparent science-based and up-to-date information about the pandemic. I hope that five briefings in, we’re starting to establish a pattern of providing the American people with the facts they need about the crisis and our response, driven by our experts and scientists.
We act every day based on the fact that we already have more than 440,000 fellow Americans who have died, 26 million Americans infected, and our ways of life totally upended. ”

“ And that means we have to continue to reinforce messages about the critical importance of COVID-19 prevention measures.
We all want to return to the things we love. Getting more people vaccinated as quickly as possible and taking prevention measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 is the path out of this pandemic and back to our everyday activities.
To help the public understand what actions to take depending on their vaccination status, we have placed updated information for consumers on the CDC.gov website. ”

“ COVID-19 Coordination Team
By January 26, 2021, each agency should establish a COVID-19 Coordination Team. This team should—at minimum—include a representative from: each component agency (if applicable) ; HR; occupational safety and health; executive leadership; counsel’s office; and a public health expert. If such an expert does not exist at the agency, a delegate will be designated by the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force. The team is responsible for conducting assessments in order to establish, implement, and monitor compliance with: (a) safety protocols for physical space and masking ”

“ Only in selected places have we capitalized on the benefits of how testing can be used as a screening intervention, with frequent tests to identify asymptomatic disease and prevent clusters before they start.
Testing can also be used as a surveillance tool to monitor the burden of disease in communities. Our newly released set of guidances offers a comprehensive approach to testing and helps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through the rapid identification and isolation of people who are infected, including those who do not know they are infected because they do not have symptoms. ”

“ While it’s good to be informed, hearing about the pandemic all day, every day, can be upsetting. Considering limiting the news to just a couple of times a day and disconnecting from screens for a while.
We have other trip — tips for improving wellbeing while staying COVID-19 safe on our CDC website, which I invite you all to look at.
Of course, do get vaccinated when the vaccine is available to you. Doing so opens up even more opportunities to connect safely in person with others in small gatherings. ”

“ I’d like to spend the next couple of minutes addressing a frequently asked question and concern regarding the impact of COVID-19 disease in pregnant women — on the women themselves and on their fetus.
So, clearly, COVID-19 and pregnancy is associated, as I’m going to show you in a moment, with adverse outcomes for mother and baby. And one asks the question: What about the safety and importance of vaccination in that setting? ”

“ I know this is complex and I’ve covered a lot of ground this morning, so I want to recap the main points of our initial guidance released today.
In summary, fully vaccinated people can visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or physical distancing; visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk of severe COVID-19 disease, indoors, without wearing masks or physical distancing; and refrain from quarantine and testing following a known COVID-19 exposure if the vaccinated person remains asymptomatic. ”

“ LGBTQ individuals; public health experts; rural communities; state, local, territorial, tribal governments; and labor unions.
This board is charged with issuing a range of recommendations to help inform the COVID-19 response and recovery, including equitable allocation of resources. And, of course, it will be chaired by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.
Finally, someone in here — I think it was your colleague from AP — asked last — a couple of days ago, I should say, about the President getting COVID tested. And I just wanted to provide an update that the President’s last COVID test was last Thursday ”

“ The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the heads of appropriate executive departments and agencies (agencies) , in coordination with the COVID–19 Response Coordinator, shall:
immediately review the availability of critical materials, treatments, and supplies needed to combat COVID–19 (pandemic response supplies) , including personal protective equipment (PPE) and the resources necessary to effectively produce and distribute tests and vaccines at scale ”

“ Half a million people dead from COVID-19. This pandemic has touched each of us. So many have lost loved ones. We’ve been separated from our friends and families. Too many of our businesses and schools have been closed for way too long. ”

“ HHS will establish regional coordinating centers to organize the distribution of COVID-19 testing supplies and partner with laboratories across the country, including universities and commercial labs, to collect specimens, perform tests, and report results to the relevant public health agencies. Too often, testing can be hard to implement in non-medical settings or it can be hard for schools or other congregate settings to find the right partner to make testing work. These coordinating centers will identify existing testing capacity, match it up to an area of need, and fund that testing. ”

“ Importantly, as per our usual guidance, masks should be used in combination with other prevention measures to offer you and your community the most protection from COVID-19. Stay at least six feet apart from other people you don’t live with, avoid crowds and travel, and wash your hands often. ”

“ Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Each agency shall implement, to the extent consistent with applicable law, a program to require COVID–19 vaccination for all of its Federal employees, with exceptions only as required by law. The Task Force shall issue guidance within 7 days of the date of this order on agency implementation of this requirement for all agencies covered by this order. ”

“ The findings confirm that the virus survives better in cold or in drier environments and does less well in warmer and more humid environments.
I have to say that, very excitingly, we're going to have somebody up; Bill will be up in just a little while. It was a great report you gave. And he's going to be talking about how the virus reacts in sunlight. Wait until you hear the numbers. You won't even believe them.
U.S. trials of the COVID-19 have been going on and have been approved in the United States, Germany, UK, and China. That's big news. And we're — a lot of trials are going on. ”

“ As part of our efforts, we're leveraging the unique capabilities of S&T's National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center to study the biology of the COVID-19 virus. This center is a high-biocontainment laboratory located in Frederick, Maryland. It was established in the early 2000s, in response to the Amerithrax attacks, and where we study, characterize, analyze, and develop countermeasures for biological threats to the homeland. We work closely with the CDC, FDA, HHS, and also our Department of Defense colleagues and many others. ”

“ The Central Leading Group for Novel Coronavirus Prevention and Control issued Guidelines on Resumption of Work while Preventing and Controlling Covid-19; and the State Council released Guidelines on Covid-19 Prevention and Control Measures for Localities at Different Risk Levels to Resume Work. Region-specific and tiered measures for Covid-19 control were adopted to pave the way for a return to normal work in different locations. ”