Advanced search    Help

Clear all search criteria

Only 2/3! You are seeing results from the Public Collection, not the complete Full Collection. Sign in to search everything (see eligibility).

• Examination of the SBA's COVID-19 Programs, Hearing Before the Committee on Small Business, United States House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, First Session, May 26, 2021

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  This is the May 26, 2021 hearing on "Examination of SBA's [U.S. Small Business Administration's] COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] Programs," held before the U.S. House Committee on Small Business. From the opening statement of Nydia Velazquez: "In 2020, COVID-19 closed more businesses than any other year on record and left countless other entrepreneurs clinging for their survival. [...] Congress has passed eight small business relief bills, allocating more than $1 trillion to small firms during their darkest hour. The federal government's efforts to save small business were extraordinary, but distributing this aid was a monumental task for SBA. The $1 trillion-plus in federal funding represented more than 10 times SBA's annual budget. As a result, the agency administered more aid during the COVID crisis than it had for all other disasters combined during its 67-year history. [...] For over a year, small businesses have persevered through a once-in-a-lifetime crisis. Today, thanks to our collective efforts, small firms have hope. Across the country, customers are returning and business conditions are normalizing thanks to vaccines and public health measures. Though the pandemic may be receding, we must continue to work as a Committee to see small businesses to the end of the crisis and help facilitate a strong recovery." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Isabella Casillas Guzman.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2022
• COVID-19: An Update on the Federal Response, Hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, Second Session on Examining COVID-19, Focusing on an Update on the Federal Response, September 23, 2020

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  This is the September 23, 2020 hearing on "COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019]: An Update on the Federal Response," held before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. From the opening statement of Lamar Alexander: "The Trump administration's program to develop and deploy a vaccine against COVID-19 is on track to be an unprecedented sprint to success. The program called Operation Warp Speed will save lives without cutting corners on safety and efficiency. The COVID-19 vaccine development process is likely to produce its first tens of millions of doses within 1 year. The United States has never produced a vaccine that rapidly. [...] The Administration had set a stretch goal that once seemed impossible but now seems likely. The Administration hopes to have as many as 300 million doses of vaccines available to be deployed by mid-2021, according to an August 26 article by Operation Warp Speed program's principal adviser, Dr. Monsef Slowey, and vaccine expert, Dr. Matthew Hepburn, that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Anthony Fauci, Robert Redfield, Brett Giroir, and Stephen Hahn.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2022
• On the Frontlines in Turbulent Times: Workforce Perspectives on the State of Transportation Security, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security of the Committee on Homeland Security, House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, First Session, November 16, 2021

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  This is the November 16, 2021 hearing on "On the Frontlines in Turbulent Times: Workforce Perspectives on the State of Transportation Security," held before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security of the Committee on Homeland Security. From the Opening Statement of Watson Coleman: "The safety of front-line workers and passengers is paramount, particularly as we continue to battle a pandemic that has turned many of our usual travel customs and norms on their head. While this is not the first year that our country will celebrate the holidays with COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] in our midst, it is heartening that almost 60 percent of the population is fully vaccinated against this virus. While we still have a ways to go, strong protection from the worst effects of the virus means more families can safely reunite during this special time of the year. Last Monday was the deadline for Federal employees, including Transportation Security Officers, to receive their last shot of a two-dose vaccine regimen, or a single dose in the case of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, to meet the November 22 deadline to be fully vaccinated, per President Biden's recent Executive Order. In addition, many major airlines have required their employees to receive their shots ahead of the January 4 deadline for Federal contractors. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about how vaccination efforts are progressing among their memberships and the partnerships between employees and employers that these efforts have borne." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Everett B. Kelley, Sara Nelson, John Samuelsen, and John A. Casaretti.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2022
• COVID Child Care Challenges: Supporting Families and Caregivers, Hearing Before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, House of Representatives. One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, Second Session, March 2, 2022

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  This is the March 2, 2022 hearing on "COVID [coronavirus disease] Child Care Challenges: Supporting Families and Caregivers," held before the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. From the Opening Statement of James Clyburn: "The coronavirus pandemic has put tremendous strain on America's families and caregivers. Many of us have seen firsthand in our own families, with our friends, and among our co-workers the difficult challenges that parents, teachers, and other caregivers have faced in the last few years. In the first several months of the pandemic, families and childcare providers were largely left to face these challenges alone. As a result, many were forced to drop out of the work force or to close their businesses. Approximately 60 percent of childcare providers closed in the spring of 2020. These closures led to over 375,000 childcare workers losing their jobs. Although many of those childcare providers were able to reopen, thousands of providers had closed permanently by 2021, contributing to a shortage that persists to this day. These sudden closures forced many parents to make difficult choices between keeping their jobs and caring for their children. Without the necessary support, parents with young children dropped out of the work force in the early days of the pandemic at alarmingly high rates. Now, nearly two years later, men with young children have returned to the work force at pre-pandemic rates, yet the labor participation rate of women with young children has not fully recovered. In January 2022, the most recent month for which data are available, more than 1.1 million women left the job or lost a job due to the need to care for young children. This disparity threatens to exacerbate longstanding gender-based economic inequality." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Gina Forbes, Betsey Stevenson, Lea J.E. Austin, Carrie Lukas, and Lynette M. Fraga.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2022
• Risks to National Security: A Full-Year Continuing Resolution for 2022

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Executive Summary: "In the absence of a Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) appropriation and given significant budget disagreements to be resolved, the Department of Defense (DoD) faces the real possibility, and the significant risk of a full-year Continuing Resolution (CR) for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22). As Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated, this 'would cause enormous, if not irreparable, damage to a wide range of bipartisan priorities - from defense readiness and modernization, to research and development, to public health.' The impact of a full-year CR could not be worse as our country navigates a near-perfect storm of a deteriorating strategic environment, the urgent need for catch-up defense modernization, increasing inflation that is eroding defense buying power, and a defense industrial base (DIB) wrestling with COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019], supply chain constraints, and workforce disruptions. For over two decades, the U.S. has focused on counterterrorism, while in that time, China and Russia have invested in technology and capability advances to gain significant advantages over us. With these expanded capabilities, they have become increasingly aggressive. The U.S. is in a race against time to retain its edge by investing in the force structure and capabilities needed to deter further aggression and prevent a major conflict. A full-year CR would delay those key investments, and some of these delays may be unrecoverable."

  National Defense Industrial Association (U.S.)

  2022-01
• Budget Cuts and Lost Learning: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Public Education, Hearing Before the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, Second Session, June 15, 2020

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  This is the June 15, 2020 hearing on "Budget Cuts and Lost Learning: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] on Public Education," held before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor. From the Opening Statement of Robert C. "Bobby" Scott: "The Committee is meeting today for a hearing to hear testimony on, quote, 'Budget Cuts and Loss Learning: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Public Education.' [...] Today we are going to examine how COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted State and local government revenue and how projected State and local government shortfalls will further exacerbate educational inequities rooted around the country. Nationwide school closures due to COVID-19 have had a profound effect on all students, especially in what has been called the summer slide; only this year the summer slide has started a few months earlier than usual. Our country's history of educational inequity tells us which students will lose the most during these schools closures. Today the pandemic is exposing and worsening achievements gaps for students of color, students with disabilities, English language learners, and students from low-income backgrounds. Vulnerable students are less likely to attend schools that have the resources to rapidly establish high-quality distance learning programs. They are also less likely to have the basic technology, such as a personal computer and high-speed internet connections, and the support at home needed to access virtual learning." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Eric Gordon, Mark Johnson, Michael Leachman, and Rebecca Pringle.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2022
• Ensuring Women Can Thrive in a Post-Pandemic Economy, Hearing Before the Committee on the Budget, House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, Second Session, March 16, 2022

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  This is the March 16, 2022 hearing on "Ensuring Women Can Thrive in a Post-Pandemic Economy," held before the U.S. House Committee on the Budget. From the Opening Statement of John A. Yarmuth: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic and resulting recession raised these barriers even higher, worsening underlying inequities and disparities that have pushed women out of the labor force, compounded their care-giving responsibilities, and more. Last week marked one year since the American Rescue Plan was signed into law and Democrats delivered lifesaving and life-changing relief for working families, small businesses, and communities across the country. Since President Biden took office, we have added a record-breaking 7.4 million jobs back to our economy. But when you look below the surface, it is not hard to see the challenges women are still facing. Since the beginning of the pandemic, women have been pushed out of the work force at a shocking rate, losing 12.2 million jobs at the depth of the recession." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Stefania Albanesi, Ai-Jen Poo, Rosa Walker, and Carrie Lukas.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2022
• Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Students with Disabilities, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education of the Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, First Session, May 6, 2021

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  This is the May 6, 2021 hearing on "Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] on Students with Disabilities," held before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education of the Committee on Education and Labor. From the opening statement of Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan: "Today we meet to discuss how the pandemic has affected students with disabilities and our responsibility to ensure they have access to free and appropriate education. As this Subcommittee has established, the pandemic has disrupted the educational lives of tens of millions of students across the country. But no group of students have sought more access to education during this life saving classroom closures than students with disabilities. So to understand why we must examine the long-standing barriers to quality education for students with disabilities and how the pandemic has exacerbated these barriers. For students with disabilities the problem is of equal education opportunity and Federal law is grounded in a basic guarantee. Access to free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment that meets their needs. [...] Over the last year Congress has taken a significant step to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Last year we enacted several relief packages that secured more than 65 billion dollars for K to 12 education, including funding to support students with disabilities. And most recently we enacted the American Rescue Plan which provides more than 130 billion to help schools reopen classrooms safely, including relief for IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] programs. [...] [W]e will discuss how we can learn from the lessons of this pandemic to ensure equal access to education with all students with disabilities." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Reade Bush, Ronald M. Hager, Danielle M. Kovach, and Kanika A. Littleton.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2022
• Vaccine Diplomacy in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Importance of U.S. Engagement, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, First Session, November 18, 2021

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  This is the November 18, 2021 hearing on "Vaccine Diplomacy in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Importance of U.S. Engagement," held before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues of the Committee on Foreign Relations. From the Opening Statement of Tim Kaine: "Americans have learned a lot of hard lessons since the COVID- 19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic first reached our shores in early 2020: the importance of a strong public health system, the vulnerability of and the valuable work performed by our essential health workers, disparities in our economic system that can be exacerbated by unforeseen crises, the effectiveness of vaccines, and the difficulties of achieving political consensus even when faced with a common threat. Another lesson the pandemic has taught us is that we are inextricably linked to other nations, particularly our neighbors in the Americas. Disease does not stop at borders. Our health, to a degree, depends on the health of our brothers and sisters in Latin America and the Caribbean. [...] We talked in those nations about the effect of a pandemic, but we also heard the gratitude of these nations for U.S. vaccine diplomacy in the region, a common story, and we were arriving in capitals and talking to presidents at about the same time as significant American vaccines were arriving to be distributed in these countries. [...] So after almost 2 years now of living with COVID, this hearing is an opportunity to consider our successes and failures in responding to the pandemic in the Americas and what we can do to continue to improve our efforts in the region." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Kevin O'Reilly, and Peter Natiello.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2022
• Retrospective Risk Allocation

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Introduction: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic presented many contracting parties with new problems. One basic question many parties faced was whether either or both parties were excused from performance, and if so, for how long and with what consequence for the other party. Some contracts were clear about how pandemic-related risks were allocated between the parties. But most contracts were not as clear because there was little indication to parties that detailed drafting would be worthwhile. Thus, even if a contract included a force majeure clause or a material adverse change clause, it might not have specified criteria sufficient to decide whether a party could walk away from a contract altogether, merely suspend performance temporarily, which dates of 2020 and 2021 qualified as 'pandemic dates,' or whether refunds were due for prepaid goods or services."

  Duke University. School of Law

  Bagchi, Aditi

  2022
• Risk Assessment of National Critical Functions During COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities

  Show summary     Open resource [html]     (open full abstract)

  From the Webpage: "The Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC) was tasked with using the National Risk Management Center's (NRMC's) National Critical Function (NCF) risk assessment framework to assess risk to each NCF and complete individual risk analyses for the 55 NCFs. The NRMC also requested that HSOAC perform additional tasks, including providing a report on emerging lessons learned from risk management efforts to limit the impact and disruption that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had on the 55 NCFs. This report presents insights into best practices in risk assessment; challenges in the implementation of the NCF risk assessment framework to characterize risk to critical infrastructure associated with the COVID-19 pandemic; recommendations for improving the framework; and suggestions for further characterization of NCFs' interdependence, vulnerability, and geographic variation that could improve risk assessment processes."

  RAND Corporation

  Lauland, Andrew; Preston, Benjamin L.; Leuschner, Kristin J. . . .

  2022
• Protecting the Pandemic Essential Worker

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Introduction: "In March 2020, states and cities tried to slow the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) by issuing shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders. Once the economic consequences of a total shutdown of the economy became clear, however, the federal government and states declared that certain business sectors or industries were critical. These critical businesses and industries were required (or at least allowed) to remain open. Unfortunately, when businesses told the people we now call 'essential workers' to keep working, no one told businesses what they needed to do to protect those workers. Things initially looked promising for essential workers--at least for some of them. People stood on balconies and lined streets during 'clappy hours' to herald and valorize higher income doctors and nurses as they went to and from work. For a brief period, it even seemed that the lower wage employees who scrubbed hospital floors, drove patients to or admitted them to hospitals, stocked shelves in Amazon warehouses, processed meat in factories, picked vegetables on farms, and drove city buses might also be valorized. Essential workers were called heroes and some retail workers even received tips from grateful customers during the early weeks of the pandemic. Later on, many of these low wage, face-to-face (F2F) workers were harassed, assaulted, and even murdered by customers who became enraged when they tried to enforce mask or social distancing requirements put in place to keep customers and workers safe."

  Duke University. School of Law

  Dickerson, Mechele (Arletrice Mechele), 1962-

  2022
• Health Crises and the Limited Role of Contract Law

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Introduction: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has focused our attention on contract law's response when unanticipated circumstances make performance impractical or frustrated, or performance would harm the public. The pandemic disrupted contracts between landlord and tenant, employer and employee, universities and students, to name a few, but has contract law provided a clear path to determine who must bear the risk of loss of such events? The purpose of this article is to suggest that current contract law's many and varied, sometimes even contradictory, rules and principles relevant to shaping a response to a health crisis can offer only limited guidance to courts and lawyers in challenging cases."

  Duke University. School of Law

  Hillman, Robert A.

  2022
• Introduction: COVID, Contract, and Crises

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Introduction: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] ('COVID') pandemic disrupted most social and legal institutions, and contract was no exception. Sometimes, the disruptions were localized and personal: venue-rental contracts were not honored because weddings or birthday parties were cancelled or delayed. Other times, the disruptions were national or international in scope: mergers and acquisitions were deferred or abandoned; the orders that feed global supply chains for clothing and other consumer goods became unpredictable. These disruptions were an occasion to consider foundational questions about contract law and what, concretely, should the legal system do in a world where 'COVID rendered many contracts in or near breach,' as one of us recently observed. The COVID pandemic meant, among other things, that parties would need to make the choice whether to renegotiate or litigate their contracts. Any choice would be made especially difficult given the uncertain trajectory of the pandemic: while we might not come 'roaring back,' the economy could certainly rebound, as it did after the pandemic of 1918-19. To litigate or to go into bankruptcy would be to terminate or impair relationships, which may be problematic during and after the pandemic. But reconfiguring contractual arrangements (or simply doing nothing) was also a fraught choice, especially in an environment where governments' responses to both the public-health and economic challenges of COVID became heavily politicized. Contract parties could neither ignore their agreements nor expect that ordinary public responses--whether through judicial intercession or fiscal largesse--were likely to be reliable or effective."

  Duke University. School of Law

  Lipson, Jonathan C.; Rebouché, Rachel

  2022
• Toward a Post-Pandemic World: Lessons from COVID-19 for Now and the Future: Proceedings of a Workshop

  Show summary     Open resource [html]     (open full abstract)

  From the Webpage: "To take stock of lessons learned from COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] around the world and in the United States, the Forum on Microbial Threats held two virtual workshops during 2021. The first workshop focused on what it means to frame the response to COVID-19 through a 'syndemic' approach, and what the implications would be for global recovery. The second workshop focused more broadly on key lessons and emerging data from ongoing pandemic response efforts that can be incorporated into current health systems to improve resilience and preparedness for future outbreaks."

  National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

  Ashby, Elizabeth; Biffl, Claire; Snair, Megan Reeve

  2022
• Moving Beyond the Coronavirus Crisis: The Biden Administration's Progress in Combating the Pandemic and Plan for the Next Phase, Hearing Before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, Second Session, March 30, 2022

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  This is the March 30, 2022 hearing on "Moving Beyond the Coronavirus Crisis: The Biden Administration's Progress in Combating the Pandemic and Plan for the Next Phase," held before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. From the opening statement of James E. Clyburn: "This is a hearing of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. When we were established with this name in April 2020, we were experiencing the worst public health crisis since the 1918 flu pandemic, and we were experiencing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Today, while there is still significant oversight of the response to the crisis for the select subcommittee to conduct, the word 'crisis' no longer accurately describes the Coronavirus in our country. [...] Make no mistake; we do not move beyond the crisis by chance. Our success is the result of deliberate positive decisions and the decisive leadership of the Biden administration. And if Congress fails to provide the administration the resources needed to continue to combat the virus, we increase the risk that we will return to crisis. I look forward to hearing more from the three senior administration officials with us today about our success in getting to this point and how we can maintain and build on this success moving forward. [...] I look forward from hearing more about the new phase of the pandemic, the Biden administration's National COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] Preparedness Plan, and how Americans would be impacted if Congress fails to provide the necessary funding." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Rochelle Walensky, Dawn O'Connell, and Vivek Murthy.

  United States. Government Publishing Office

  2022
• MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, December 31, 2021

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [It] is the agency's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations. This issue of MMWR contains the following: "COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] Vaccine Safety in Children Aged 5-11 Years -- United States, November 3-December 19, 2021"; "Interim Estimate of Vaccine Effectiveness of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) Vaccine in Preventing SARS-CoV-2 [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2] Infection Among Adolescents Aged 12-17 Years -- Arizona, July-December 2021"; "Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes of Children and Adolescents Aged

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)

  2021-12-31
• Force Health Protection Guidance (Supplement 15) Revision 3 - Department of Defense Guidance for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Laboratory Testing Services

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Document: "This memorandum updates previous DoD coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-I9) laboratory testing guidance and rescinds and replaces reference (a) ['Force Health Protection Guidance (Supplement 15) Revision 2 -Department of Defense Guidance for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Laboratory Testing Services']. This force health protection (FHP) supplement provides guidance on COVID-19 testing for eligible persons suspected of having contracted COVID-19, and applies Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) testing guidance in the DoD context. DoD Components will continue to employ clinical diagnostic testing in accordance with this guidance. This guidance also supports the DoD surveillance strategy for the COVID-19 pandemic response with complementary health surveillance activities, screening, asymptomatic testing, and sentinel screening testing surveillance consistent with applicable law and in accordance with reference (b) ['Force Health Protection Guidance (Supplement 22) - Department of Defense Guidance for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Surveillance and Screening Testing']."

  United States. Department of Defense

  2021-12-30
• Tools to Mitigate the Threat of the Omicron Variant of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Department of Defense

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Document: "This memorandum provides an update on tools to mitigate the threat of the Omicron variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-I9) in the DoD. The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2] virus, which causes COVID-19, was first reported to the World Health Organization on November 24, 2021. Even though much remains unknown about the new variant, evidence suggests that it is more transmissible than previous COVID-l9 variants. Even if the Omicron variant proves to be milder than other COVID-I9 variants, its transmissibility has the ability to overwhelm our health care systems and impact the operational readiness of our Forces. While the Omicron variant's characteristics may differ from other variants, the tools that we have successfully used throughout the pandemic, such as masking, physical distancing, teleworking, testing, and vaccination, remain effective and must be continuously implemented."

  United States. Department of Defense

  2021-12-30
• COVID-19 Guidance for Businesses and Critical Infrastructure

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Introduction: "The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is dedicated to supporting Chicago's workplaces throughout the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic. Our role is to inform the City's businesses about public health mitigation strategies in order to prevent and reduce transmission of COVID-19 while maintaining business operations. Communication and cooperation with public health officials is very important. The more public health officials understand about your operation, the more they will be able to help provide specific guidance and options that will be least disruptive. This guide offers resources for non-healthcare workplace settings, including what to do in the event of COVID-19 cases in the workplace and how to mitigate spread. COVID-19 can spread within workplaces and, depending on the type of business, to customers. It is critical that businesses provide employees with clear COVID-19 guidance to protect their health, prevent transmission to others, and minimize disruptions to daily operations within the workplace. This is especially important in settings where COVID-19 vaccination rates of workers and/or customers are low or unknown."

  Chicago (Ill.). Department of Public Health

  2021-12-30
• Fourth Amendment Limits on Extensive Quarantine Surveillance

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Abstract: "The devastation wreaked by the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic spurred innovations in technology and public policy. Many countries rushed to implement extensive quarantines, and some introduced disease surveillance, including location tracking to enforce quarantines. Though the United States has never implemented high-tech quarantine surveillance, such technology will certainly be available for the next disease outbreak. Absent significant doctrinal change, the Fourth Amendment likely bars some, but not all, forms of quarantine surveillance. Quarantine surveillance probably constitutes a Fourth Amendment 'search' that generally must be backed by probable cause. This probable cause requirement, and its subcomponent of individualized suspicion, likely applies differently to different kinds of surveillance programs. In targeted programs--say, only surveilling individuals who are sick--the government would, before surveilling an individual, have evidence unique to that individual that would justify heightened caution. This could constitute probable cause. But en mass surveillance--say, surveilling all citizens of a town--would lack individualized evidence, being based on the broad danger posed by the disease. The Fourth Amendment likely demands, at a minimum, that quarantine surveillance programs be tightly restrained: targeting only those people who pose a distinct, individualized danger to public health."

  Duke University. School of Law

  Wolters, Benjamin

  2021-12-29
• Misleading a Pandemic: The Viral Effects of Chinese Propaganda and the Coronavirus

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  "T he COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has had a significant impact on the world, including strained diplomatic ties and blurred perceptions of who or what is responsible for its origins. In response to allegations, China crafted an intricate social media campaign to clear its name. This campaign gained notoriety in June 2020 when Twitter removed 150,000 malicious Chinese accounts. The accretion of fictitious accounts suggests that China has emboldened its efforts to spread propaganda on Twitter in favor of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) objectives. Although previous Chinese propaganda campaigns had focused on demeaning the protests in Hong Kong, a massive wave of social media rhetoric promoting the Chinese government's response to the coronavirus outbreak as a form of Great Power competition--initially downplaying the pandemic's severity while seeking praise for the government's draconian efforts to contain its spread--is a narrative that underscores the changing character of war. It seems the information that the CCP passed through Twitter is more mendacious than originally perceived, resembling stratagems from Russia's 2014 disinformation playbook in Crimea."

  National Defense University Press

  Wendler, JohnRoss

  2021-12-29
• Apache Tribe of Oklahoma's Use of Coronavirus Relief Fund Payment (OIG-CA-22-006)

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Document: "We would like to thank you and other representatives of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (Apache Tribe) for meeting with our office on September 22, 2021 to discuss our letter, dated July 28, 2021, regarding the use of Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) proceeds received from the Department of the Treasury (Treasury). [...] This letter is to inform you that our position on the matter has not changed after consideration of your written response, received August 10, 2021(included as attachment 2 of this letter), and follow up discussions at our September 22nd meeting. As described below, Apache Tribe's explanation for using the $500,000 of CRF proceeds as collateral for the loan in question does not comply with the CARES [Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act] Act and Treasury's 'Coronavirus Relief Fund Guidance for State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal Governments' (Guidance). Under the 'Uses of Funds' requirements of Section 601(d) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the CARES Act, payments from the Fund may only be used to cover costs that-- [1] are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); [2] were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government; and [3] were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 31, 2021."

  United States. Department of the Treasury. Office of Inspector General

  Delmar, Richard K.

  2021-12-28
• MMWR Early Release: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, December 28, 2021: Investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) Variant Cluster -- Nebraska, November-December 2021

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [It] is the agency's primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations. This Early Release issue of MMWR contains the following article: "Investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) Variant Cluster -- Nebraska, November-December 2021." Notifiable Diseases and Mortality Tables from MMWR can be accessed at the following link [http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index2021.html].

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)

  Jansen, Lauren; Tegomoh, Bryan; Lange, Kate

  2021-12-28
• Coronavirus Disease 2019 - Implementation of Measures Designed to Mitigate the Threat of the Delta and Omicron Variants to the Pentagon Reservation

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Document: "The Pentagon Reservation remains at Health Protection Condition (HPCON) Bravo Plus (Bravo +). We have seen an increase in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and positive test results in the National Capitol Region (NCR) in recent weeks. Additional mitigation measures will be implemented on the Pentagon Reservation to protect the workforce and our support to the no-fail mission of the Department of Defense. We will continually assess health protection measures and will update this guidance, as appropriate. [1] All DoD personnel are strongly encouraged to receive the booster dose to protect themselves against COVID-19. Individuals 18 years of age or older, who completed a primary vaccination series with an mRNA [messenger ribonucleic acids] vaccine (i.e., Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty or Moderna) at least six months ago, and those who received a Johnson & Johnson shot at least two months ago, are eligible for a booster dose. COVID-19 vaccinations remain widely available at military medical treatment facilities and other locations at no cost to the recipient. [2] COVID-19 vaccines will again be available for eligible Service members, DoD civilian employees, and on-site DoD contractor personnel at the DiLorenzo Pentagon Health Clinic and at the Pentagon Library Conference Center, beginning on January 5, 2022. Individuals can make a reservation for a vaccination, through this CAC [common access card] restricted URL: https://apps.sp.pentagon.mil/sites/Vaccination/Pages/Home.aspx. The Pentagon Health Clinic is currently administering only the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine. [3] DoD personnel are encouraged to consider using an FDA-approved COVID-19 home test kit upon return from the Federal holiday period prior to returning to the workplace."

  United States. Department of Defense. Office of the Director of Administration and Management

  2021-12-27
• COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Installation Status Update [As of December 27, 2021]

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Document: "Travel Restrictions 'LIFTED' at 206 of 230 Installations (90%) (Met: Step 1 & Step 2)[.] Of the 206 installations with lifted travel restrictions this week, 2 reinstated travel restrictions while 0 lifted restrictions."

  United States. Department of Defense

  2021-12-27
• From Airports to Arms: New Insights and Urgent Recommendations to Accelerate Global COVID-19 Vaccinations

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Introduction: "Almost two years into the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic the world remains in a perilous position, with over 270 million reported cases, over 5.3 million reported deaths, and trillions of dollars in lost economic activity. Inequities in access to vaccines and other life-saving interventions, as well as a lack of commitment and implementation of a cohesive, coordinated, appropriately resourced global action plan, leave everyone more vulnerable, especially those in LMICs [low- and middle-income countries]. To end the pandemic, the best line of defense against COVID-19-- including Omicron and potential future variants -- is rapid, widespread and equitable vaccination combined with additional evidence-based public health measures. Persistent challenges to equitable vaccine supply, allocation, distribution, acceptance, and financing, combined with local and regional vaccine delivery factors have resulted in 70 of the world's poorest and least-resourced countries falling tragically short of reaching the World Health Organization's (WHO) year-end target [hyperlink] of 40% vaccination coverage, a critical milestone to reaching the WHO and G20 [Group of Twenty] endorsed [hyperlink] target of 70% coverage by mid-2022. The inequities are stark: the average full vaccination coverage [hyperlink] across low-income countries is only 4%, compared to 69% in high income countries. [...] On 13 December 2021, the COVID Global Accountability Platform (COVID GAP [Global Accountability Platform], led by Duke University and COVID Collaborative), WHO, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), supported by The Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, co-hosted a joint global convening on vaccination challenges. [...] This report summarizes insights and recommendations from that convening, and also draws on learnings from national, regional, and global vaccination efforts over the past year, particularly those led by WHO and UNICEF through COVAX [COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access] Country Readiness and Delivery (CRD) activities and by Africa CDC and the African Union."

  COVID Global Accountability Platform; World Health Organization; UNICEF . . .

  Boyer, Elizabeth; Edson, Gary R.; Lindstrand, Ann . . .

  2021-12-23
• Enhanced Fitness of SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern Alpha but Not Beta

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Document: "This is a PDF file of a peer-reviewed paper that has been accepted for publication. Although unedited, the content has been subjected to preliminary formatting. Nature is providing this early version of the typeset paper as a service to our authors and readers. [...] Emerging variants of concern (VOC) drive the SARS-CoV-2 [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2] pandemic. Experimental assessment of replication and transmission of major VOC compared to progenitors are needed to understand successful emerging mechanisms of VOC. Here, we show that Alpha and Beta spike (S) proteins have a greater affinity to human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptor over the progenitor variant (wt-S614G) in vitro. Yet Alpha and wt-S614G had similar replication kinetics in human nasal airway epithelial cultures, whereas Beta was outcompeted by both. In vivo, competition experiments showed a clear fitness advantage of Alpha over the progenitor variant (wt-S614G) in ferrets and two mouse models, where the substitutions in S were major drivers for fitness advantage. In hamsters, supporting high replication levels, Alpha and wt-S614G had comparable fitness. In contrast, Beta was outcompeted by Alpha and wt-S614G in hamsters and hACE2-expressing mice. Our study highlights the importance of using multiple models for complete fitness characterization of VOC and demonstrates adaptation of Alpha towards increased upper respiratory tract replication and enhanced transmission in vivo in restrictive models, whereas Beta fails to overcome contemporary strains in naïve animals."

  Nature Publishing Group

  Ulrich, Lorenz; Halwe, Nico Joel; Taddeo, Adriano . . .

  2021-12-22
• Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Impact in Africa [Updated December 22, 2021]

  Show summary     Open resource [pdf]     (open full abstract)

  From the Document: "In December 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a 'fourth wave' of COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] cases across much of Africa, notably in southern Africa. This followed South Africa's genomic identification and notification to international health authorities of the new 'Omicron' variant, first detected in Botswana. Public fatigue with infection control measures, the Delta variant, and low vaccination rates helped drive earlier waves of cases in many African countries in 2021. Omicron's rapid spread prompted countries around the world (including the United States) to restrict travel from southern Africa, which African leaders decried as punitive and discriminatory. Overall, confirmed cases and deaths in sub-Saharan Africa (hereinafter, 'Africa') have been lower than in other world regions and concentrated in a few countries, with the majority in South Africa (Figure 1). As access to testing has been low in many countries, some health experts posit that actual caseloads and mortality may be higher."

  Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

  Arieff, Alexis; Blanchard, Lauren Ploch; Cook, Nicolas . . .

  2021-12-22
• Alleviating Food Insecurity in the Disabled Community: Lessons Learned from Community Solutions During the Pandemic

  Show summary     Open resource [html]     (open full abstract)

  From the Webpage: "Disability and food insecurity have a close and well-documented relationship. Inequities in economic opportunity for disabled people have made disability a key factor in predicting vulnerability to food insecurity; in turn, increased food insecurity is also associated with higher rates of disabilities related to chronic illness. This issue brief provides background on long-standing barriers to food security and access for disabled people in the United States. It then discusses the coronavirus pandemic's impacts and highlights disability and community organizations' solutions to these issues. Finally, it provides recommendations for the federal government to alleviate food insecurity in the disability community, including by expanding the definition of disability for anti-poverty programs, disaggregating data to include disability in hunger and food systems research, increasing federal funding to target food insecurity, and expanding and making permanent the online food purchasing pilot program in all states. Centering the experiences of community organizations that have worked to meet people's basic needs on a day-to-day basis--coupled with necessary policy changes at the federal level--is essential to beginning to address hunger in the disability community, both during and after the pandemic."

  Center for American Progress

  Ives-Rublee, Mia; Sloane, Christine

  2021-12-21