Paycheck Protection Program Update:

The launch of the Paycheck Protection Program last Friday allows Wyoming small businesses to receive loans to keep their employees on payroll and make ends meet during these challenging times. After the first full day, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said that 17,503 loans were processed nationwide, and more small businesses continue to apply for the program. 

The SBA and President Trump both clarified over the weekend that faith-based organizations are eligible for the program. Answers to specific questions about the program for faith-based organizations can be found here, courtesy of the SBA, and key background on the entire program is available below: 

• Coronavirus.gov Small Business Resources Page
• Treasury Department Overview On The Paycheck Protection Program
• SBA.gov/Coronavirus Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources Page

Coronavirus Therapeutic and Vaccine Update

In an interview yesterday on CBS’s Face The Nation and in a column for The Wall Street Journal, Dr. Scott Gottlieb outlined the progress that is being made when it comes to advancing therapeutics that will minimize the effects of the virus, and what needs to be done moving forward.

• The Wall Street Journal (Dr. Gottlieb): “Bet Big on Treatments for Coronavirus”

In the piece, Dr. Gottlieb emphasized that even if the virus subsides in the summer, the only way to ultimately defeat it is with technology, and the best near-term hope for that is an effective therapeutic drug. He notes that two potential therapeutics – one that targets the virus and blocks its replication and another involving anitbody drugs – have shown the most promise and that a strong sense of urgency is needed from both manufacturers and federal regulators to rapidly produce and distribute these therapies.

When it comes to vaccine development, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates said last week that his foundation will spend billions of dollars to construct factories for the most promising efforts to develop a vaccine.

Gates said his foundation will work with seven makers of a possible vaccine to build these factories – even if only one or two of the vaccines are ultimately produced – with the hope of potentially accelerating the process.

As a reminder, clinical trials of phase one of a vaccine began last month and were, “launched at record speed,” according to Dr. Fauci. Johnson & Johnson also announced a new vaccine candidate last week too. 

Deploying Resources And Distributing Medical Supplies:

The President announced at yesterday’s Coronavirus Task Force briefing that 3,000 military and public health professionals have been deployed across the country and hundreds of ventilators have been sent to states facing the largest outbreaks. 

In promising news, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington said that he was sending 400 ventilators back to the federal government since the outbreak in his state is decreasing, allowing those ventilators to be used in other states. 

Rear Admiral John Polowczyk, who is in charge of the distribution of medical supplies, announced that three additional flights from FEMA’s “Project Airbridge” came in yesterday, bringing in one million gowns, 2.8 million N95 masks, 2.8 million surgical masks, and 11.8 million gloves in total. 

The President continues to use the Defense Production Act to marshal private sector resources for the development of PPE, and private companies are stepping up on their own as well. In a tweet last night, Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company will produce 1 million face shields per week for medical workers, on top of the 20 million N95 masks they have donated.  

On testing, Vice-President Pence shared yesterday that 1.67 million Americans have now been tested for the virus and received results, which is far more testing than any other country has done.  

Latest Updates From The Coronavirus Task Force:

In interviews yesterday, Surgeon General Jerome Adams and NIH Doctor Anthony Fauci both previewed the week ahead, with Dr. Adams saying that it will be, “our Pearl Harbor moment. It’s going to be our 9/11 moment. It’s going to be the hardest moment for many Americans in their entire lives. And we really need to understand that if we want to flatten that curve and get through to the other side, everyone needs to do their part.”

Dr. Adams encouraged all Americans to follow the Administration’s guidelines. Dr. Fauci added that the week ahead will be, “bad,” but he also pointed to encouraging signs that showed the mitigation strategy put forward by the Administration is showing signs of progress.

Dr. Fauci said that, “the number of new cases are starting to flatten,” and that, “it’s clear that mitigation is working.” Dr. Fauci also pointed toward promising developments out of Italy, where the number of new cases have stabilized.  

Defense Production Act
President Trump continues to invoke the Defense Production Act in order to marshal the private sector to produce critical personal protective equipment needed for medical professionals. 

On Friday, he announced that he was signing a directive to use the Act to prohibit export of scarce health and medical supplies by unscrupulous actors and profiteers. As part of the directive, the Secretary of Homeland Security will work with FEMA to prevent the export of N95 respirators, surgical masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment. This announcement comes on the heels of the news on Thursday that HHS and DOJ were distributing close to a million pieces of medical supplies confiscated from price gougers, including approximately 192,000 N95s, 130,000 surgical masks, 598,000 medical grade gloves, and other products.

New CDC Face Covering Guidelines
President Trump announced that the CDC is advising the use of non-medical cloth face covering as an additional voluntary health measure. These guidelines do not replace the CDC’s guidelines on social distancing and are also not recommending the use of medical grade or surgical grade masks, which should be used by medical professionals in their lifesaving work. 

CDC Director Robert Redfield said that the new face covering guidelines is, “another adjunctive mitigation strategy to protect someone from spreading the virus from themselves to someone else.” More information about the CDC’s guidance can be found from their recommendation announcement, and their instructive material on how to slow the spread by using a face covering. 

Coronavirus Treatment for Uninsured Patients
The President announced that hospitals and health care providers treating uninsured coronavirus patients will be reimbursed by the federal government using funds from the economic relief package Congress passed last month. Secretary Azar said that $1 billion in funding from the Families First Act (Phase Two) passed by Congress will cover providers’ expenses for testing and diagnosing the uninsured. Additionally, the CARES Act (Phase Three) passed by Congress includes another $100 billion for health care providers and under the President’s direction, a portion of that funding will be used to cover providers’ costs of delivering COVID-19 care for the uninsured.

This all comes on top of action taken by the Administration and Congress to ensure that all patients have access to treatment they need during this crisis. That includes health care companies eliminating copays for coronavirus treatment, and legislation passed to provide free testing. 

Please follow this newsletter and the coronavirus page on my website for continued updates about COVID-19 and how government is responding to protect both the country’s health and our economic security. 

Congresswoman Liz Cheney