Category: Covid-19

Los Angeles, USA, June 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- COVID-19 Pipeline Diversifies as the COVID-19 Cases Soar and Demand for Effective Therapies Balloons | DelveInsight

Efforts in clinical development are being continuously made to advance toward finding safe and effective treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. After the approval of vaccines across the world, new anti-viral combinations and anti-inflammatory (including monoclonal antibodies) are under investigation.

DelveInsights COVID-19 Pipeline Insights report offers exhaustive coverage of the emerging therapy landscape in different stages of development from pre-clinical till a late-end stage, along with dormant, inactive and abandoned therapeutic agents.

The COVID-19 Pipeline reports lay down a complete picture of the ongoing clinical trials, partnerships taking place in the domain, recent happenings in space and growth prospects across the COVID-19 domain.

Some of the key highlights from the COVID-19 Pipeline report:

Request for Sample to know more about the therapies that are set to grab maximum patient pool @ COVID-19 Emerging Therapies and Forecast

A Pandemic that started in late 2019, COVID-19 has affected more than 160 million people worldwide. It is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. It affects the upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) or lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs) and spreads the same way other coronaviruses do, mainly through person-to-person contact.

For more information on emerging drugs, visit COVID-19 Pipeline Analysis

COVID-19 Pipeline Drugs

Request for Sample to know more @ COVID-19 Pipeline Analysis, Key Companies and Futuristic Trends

COVID-19 Therapeutic Assessment

The COVID-19 Pipeline report proffers detailed insights into active pipeline assets segmented by Stage, Product Type, Route of Administration, Molecule Type, Target, and Mechanism of Action.

By Product Type

By Stage

By Molecule Type

By Route of Administration

By Mechanism of Action

By Targets

Get in touch with our Business executive for Informative Business Decisions, Licensing Services and Consulting Solutions

Scope of the Report

Coverage: GlobalKey Players: Sorrento Therapeutics, Molecular Partners, Amgen, Maxwell Biosciences, Frontier Biotechnologies, Galera Therapeutics, AbbVie, Synairgen, Capricor, Kinarus, IMV, RedHill Biopharma, SAb Biotherapeutics, Adagio Therapeutics, Valneva, Novavax, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, VBI Vaccines, Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Translate Bio, Evelo Biosciences, Cocrystal Pharma, Icosavax, Atea Pharmaceuticals, NovaLead among others.Key COVID-19 Pipeline Therapies: PSC 04, Ensovibep, Otezla, MXB-009, FB-2001, GC4419, ABBV-47D11, SNG001, CAP-1002, KIN001-CV, DPX COVID 19, PTC-299, RHB-107, SAB-185, ADG20, VLA2001, NVX-CoV2373, INO-4800, VBI-2902, Fostamatinib, MRT5500, EDP-1815, CDI-45205, IVX-411, AT527, NLP21 among others.

Reach out @ COVID-19 Pipeline: Novel therapies and Emerging technologies

Table of Contents

Visit to know more of whats covered @ COVID-19 Emerging Therapies, Treatments and Ongoing Clinical Trials

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About DelveInsight

DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences. It supports Pharma companies by providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to improve their performance. Get hassle-free access to all the healthcare and pharma market research reports through our subscription-based platform PharmDelve.

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COVID-19 Pipeline Diversifies as the COVID-19 Cases Soar - GlobeNewswire

One month ahead of the target date set by the Biden administration, California has now at least partially vaccinated 70% of its adult residents against COVID-19.

Clearing that hurdle is a vital development as the state prepares to fully reopen later this month.

The progress, however, comes alongside a significant drop in the number of people seeking their first vaccine shot.

At the peak, providers statewide were administering about 400,000 vaccine doses per day. Over the last week, an average of about 141,000 shots have been doled out daily, according to data compiled by The Times.

Although dose figures gathered over the weekend might be low due to reporting lags because of the holiday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that the state was seeing a significant drop in people starting their vaccine regimens. He noted the trend meant an even larger drop was on the horizon.

Its those first doses, those first shots, that are way down, he said. And so you can see that cliff coming in the next week or two.

Although 70.1% of residents 18 and older in the Golden State have received at least one dose, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 54.6% are fully vaccinated having received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine or both required doses of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

Roughly 4.7 million California adults are due for a second inoculation in the days and weeks ahead, federal figures show.

At any rate, California falls short of 80% people vaccinated. To achieve herd immunity, the point at which the larger population is protected against the virus, 80% of residents need to have been vaccinated or have natural immunity.

And with the inoculation campaign now more than 5 months old, gains are harder to come by.

As Newsom recently noted, achieving an initial baseline level of vaccine coverage 10%, 20%, 30% was easy compared to getting from 60% to 70%. Getting from 70% to 80% will be even more challenging.

We cant afford to run ... the 90-yard dash, he said during a briefing Thursday. Weve got to finish the job.

To reverse the downward trend in first vaccination shots, state officials have unveiled a $116.5-million vaccine incentive program called Vax for the Win.

All Californians who have received at least one vaccine dose will be automatically entered into a series of drawings this month for the chance to win one of 10 $1.5-million prizes, or one of 30 $50,000 awards.

And 2 million vaccine recipients (those with a first shot as of May 27 or later) will also be eligible for either a $50 prepaid gift card or a $50 grocery card.

The first drawing will be held Friday, when 15 Californians will win $50,000.

Increasingly, youre seeing a number of states, five or six, with these larger cash grants, and we have seen some enthusiasm in those states, Newsom said. And we want to see if we can replicate that enthusiasm here.

Despite the recent slowdown in the pace of vaccinations, California continues to measure up well when compared with other states.

California ranks 12th in terms of the share of its adult population that is at least partially vaccinated, according to the CDC. At the top of that leader board are Vermont with 82%; Hawaii, 80.5%; and Massachusetts, 78.7%.

Roughly 71.2% of Pennsylvania adults have received at least one dose, as have 67.9% of those in New York, 59.9% in Florida and 57.1% in Texas.

Early last month, President Biden called for 70% of American adults to receive at least one dose by July 4, and for 160 million adults to be fully vaccinated by that point.

Lets celebrate our independence as a nation, and our independence from this virus, he said at the time.

According to the latest CDC data, more than 133 million adult Americans, including 16.7 million Californians, have been fully vaccinated.

California is also continuing to see progress in its pandemic metrics, boasting as it has for weeks one of the lowest coronavirus case rates in the country.

The number of Californians hospitalized with COVID-19, which peaked above 21,000 during the height of the states fall-and-winter surge, is also receding.

On Monday there were 1,069 such patients statewide a roughly 23% decrease from two weeks prior.

The most powerful protection you can have is the vaccine, so please consider getting the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a recent statement.

As the pandemic recedes, California continues to reopen its economy.

In the penultimate weekly update of the states COVID-19 reopening roadmap, four more counties Marin, Monterey, San Benito and Ventura moved into the least-restrictive yellow tier.

Counties within that category, of which there are now 19, can allow most businesses to operate indoors with some modifications.

Reaching that level requires counties to record for two consecutive weeks an adjusted daily case rate of fewer than 2 per 100,000 people, a rate of positive test results of less than 2%, and a less than 2% rate of positive test results in communities heavily impacted by the virus.

Another four counties Nevada, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Solano also progressed Tuesday into the orange tier, the second-least-restrictive tier on the reopening ladder.

Thirty-five of Californias 58 counties now call the orange tier home. Four remain in the more restrictive red tier, which is the second-most-restrictive tier, but none are in the strictest purple tier.

The tier system is slated for retirement on June 15, when state officials say they will lift coronavirus-related capacity restrictions and physical distancing requirements for attendees, customers and guests at almost all businesses and other institutions, and allow people who are fully vaccinated to go without masks in most situations.

Though it is only two weeks until full reopening, every day matters for our businesses, Ventura County Executive Officer Mike Powers said in a statement Tuesday. Expanded customer capacity will help impacted businesses. We appreciate the hard work of our community members in getting us to this point.

Read more here:

70% of adult Californians are partially vaccinated against COVID-19 - Los Angeles Times

News Release

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

A new study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and their colleagues has found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, does not appear to pose a threat to the safety of the nations blood supply. The analysis, published in Transfusion, supports current donor screening guidelines, including those used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that do not require testing blood samples for the SARS-CoV-2 virus but do require that donors be screened for physical symptoms of COVID-19 and for infections that occurred within 14 days of the blood donation. The blood of donors with recent COVID-19 infections, or who develop infections after recent donations, cannot be used.

After reviewing test results for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in thousands of blood donations across the country, researchers found no reason to alter the current blood donor screening practices that are in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This finding is good news for thousands of patients who may need a blood transfusion because of surgery or a disease that causes anemia, such as a rare blood-related condition or leukemia, said Simone Glynn, M.D., M.P.H., chief of the Blood Epidemiology and Clinical Therapeutics Branch at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which conducted the study along with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The new analysis is based on 17,995 pools of donated blood, representative of 257,809 single blood donations collected between March and September 2020 from six U.S. metropolitan regions. Researchers concluded the likelihood of a transfusion recipient receiving blood with trace amounts of SARS-CoV-2 was approximately .001% a little over 1 in 100,000 and that the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 transmission by blood transfusion was insignificant compared to airborne transmission.

Highly sensitivenucleic acid amplification tests, which have been documented to be 99.96% effective at detecting genetic components of the virus in blood, were used to screen blood donations. Of the thousands of samples tested, just three came back positive, all with very low concentrations of the virus.

Other studies have shown that in rare cases where a blood sample tested positive, transmission by blood transfusion has not occurred, said Sonia Bakkour, Ph.D., a scientist at the Vitalant Research Institute and part of the research team that analyzed the blood. She is also a scientist at the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Therefore, it appears safe to receive blood as a transfusion recipient and to keep donating blood, without fear of transmitting COVID-19 as long as current screenings are used.

Bakkour and researchers started testing blood samples from blood collection centers to determine if SARS-CoV-2 could be detected in the blood of healthy donors and potentially transmitted to patients. Blood donors may donate only if they have no disease symptoms, but it was possible that they could be infected with SARS-CoV-2 and have no symptoms, be infected but not yet show physical symptoms, or have recovered from COVID-19, but still have lingering traces of the virus. Researchers wanted to know if any of these possibilities posed concerns for the blood supply.

The conclusion that SARS-CoV-2 does not threaten the safety of the nations blood supply under current guidelines mirrors results of similar studies conducted in Korea, Pakistan, China, and France. Those studies found that among the rare cases in which SARS-CoV-2 was detected in a blood donation, it contained a low viral load and did not result in transmission of COVID-19.

The study was conducted by the NHLBI Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study (REDS) Program. The NHLBI REDS Program conducts research to evaluate and improve the safety and availability of the nations blood supply, as well as the safety and effectiveness of blood transfusion therapies.

In addition, the program also addresses potential emerging threats to the blood supply, which is why early in 2020, the REDS Epidemiology, Surveillance and Preparedness of the Novel SARS-CoV-2 (RESPONSE) project

About the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI):NHLBI is the global leader in conducting and supporting research in heart, lung, and blood diseases and sleep disorders that advances scientific knowledge, improves public health, and saves lives. For more information, visitwww.nhlbi.nih.gov.

About the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID): NIAID conducts and supports research at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. For more information, visit https://www.niaid.nih.gov/.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

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U.S. blood donations are safe under current COVID-19 screening guidelines - National Institutes of Health

BOSTON (CBS) Among the bucolic lighthouses and rolling bluffs, theres something fishy happening on Marthas Vineyard. Just days before Massachusetts dropped all COVID-19 restrictions, the island reported a small coronavirus surge of sorts that started earlier in the spring.

Week ending April 3rd, we had the most cases weve had since the beginning of the pandemic, said Maura Valley, the health agent for Tisbury.

According to the states COVID-19 dashboard released on May 27, Dukes and Nantucket counties were the only counties that reported COVID positivity rates higher than the previous two weeks at 5.28%. That rate is more than five times higher than the states average of 1.03%.

It seems to be younger people but thats probably because a larger number of them are not vaccinated, Valley said.

The trend is puzzling as Dukes County has a high percentage of residents fully vaccinated, 68% according to state data.

Dr. Michael Stoto, an epidemiologist and public health researcher at Georgetown University and the Harvard T. Chan School of Public Health, said the Vineyard may simply be detecting more cases of the virus than regions where COVID testing has waned.

And the reason is because theres been a very effective testing infrastructure and contact tracing infrastructure, said Stoto, who is also a Vineyard summer resident.

What the data demonstrates is that the virus can continue to exist even among small pockets of unvaccinated people. The same holds true in Hampden County which has the lowest number of fully vaccinated residents in the state at 37%. There, the COVID-19 positivity rate is 2.19%, a number lower than the previous two weeks.

The numbers are similar in Bristol County, where the percentage of the population fully vaccinated stands at 41%. The COVID-19 positivity rate is 2.39% and falling.

Dr. Dani Hackner, the physician in chief for Southcoast Health, said he believes demographics have something to do with Bristols low vaccination rate.

You think that folks who have chronic illnesses and social vulnerability would be more likely to get vaccinated but thats not always the case, he said.

Even as numbers drop, Hackner said unvaccinated individuals continue to get the virus and face hospitalization.

We have seen some very sad cases of people who did not want to get vaccinated and it led to very severe illness.

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As Massachusetts Reopens, COVID-19 Continues To Spread Among The Unvaccinated - CBS Boston

If you're getting a kit together, officials are reminding you to include hand sanitizer and PPE. However, there's another thing they're encourage everyone do.

JEFFERSON PARISH, La. With hurricane season underway, now is the time to get a hurricane plan in place.

Destructive, frustrating, exhausting. However you want to describe the 2020 hurricane season, we can all agree it was one to remember.

"It never ended, we kicked it off in June and we were still in cones every month until we wrapped up in October there with Zeta's passing," said Benjamin Schott, Meteorologist in Charge at the National Weather Service in Slidell.

Now, whether we like it or not, a new season has started and projections aren't ideal.

"A lot of the forecasts look like last year," Schott said. "So, that doesn't give anyone warm fuzzy feelings going into the season."

This is the second hurricane season to happen in the midst of the pandemic, but the first with vaccines available. So, what roll will that play if evacuations are ever ordered?

"We're working closely with GOHSEP with the unified sheltering plan," said Joseph Valiente with the Jefferson Parish Emergency Management.

Valiente says conversations are happening now specifically about that, but says if people need help evacuating, that it could look a bit more like it did pre-pandemic.

"Currently, if it stays at this level with COVID response, we'll go to congregate sheltering," he said. "Which means the old fashion way. We'll put quite a few people in an enclosed area."

So one thing he says people should do to prepare: Get vaccinated.

"We can't stress that enough, because if you evacuate you may have to go 300-400 miles, you don't know what COVID situation in that area will be," he said.

The forecasts show 13 to 20 hurricanes this season, but officials say it just takes one. So keep your guard up, and be ready for whatever may come our way.

Temperature checks will be taken for those evacuating and if found to have a fever will isolate until being tested. PPE will also be made available as well, but authorities encourage people to remember their own PPE and hand sanitizer in their personal hurricane kits.

More here:

What role will COVID-19 vaccines play during hurricane evacuations - WWLTV.com

The World Health Organization simplifies the names of COVID-19 variants; updated Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance suggests employers can mandate COVID-19 vaccines; study finds a record 1.1 billion smokers were reported worldwide in 2019.

In an effort to create a less technical way of describing COVID-19 variants to nonscientific audiences, the World Health Organization (WHO) will leverage the Greek alphabet, using letters like alpha, beta, and gamma, to replace the variant names of B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1, respectively. Reported by Bloomberg, a group of scientists gathered together by WHO divided the virus strains into categories as of interest and of concern. The 24 letters of the Greek alphabet will be used to term the virus strains; a new series will be announced by WHO once these letters have all been taken.

According to an updated guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, employers are allowed to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine among their workforce, as well as provide incentives to workers, such as cash, to become vaccinated. As reported by CBS News, employers will still be required to provide accommodations for employees who are exempt from mandatory immunization under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

In findings of a study published last week in The Lancet, a record 1.1 billion smokers, and nearly 8 million related deaths, were reported worldwide in 2019, with progress against the prevalence of smoking found to have slowed in the last 10 years. According to Fox News, results indicated that the most common health issues associated with smoking among both sexes included ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tracheal, bronchus, lung cancer, and stroke, which altogether accounted for 72% of all smoking-related deaths in 2019.

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What We're Reading: COVID-19 Variants Renamed; Employer Vaccine Mandates; Progress in Smoking Cessation Slowing - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

Vermont Business Magazine The VDH is reporting only two cases of COVID-19 as cases in Vermont, across the region and across the US subside. There have been no COVID-related deaths in the state in 15 days, which are holding at 255. Vermont is the only state with no fatalities during that span. Governor Phil Scott has said that once 80 percent of eligible Vermonters are vaccinated, all state COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted. At his Tuesday press conference, Governor Scott said that only about 11,000 more Vermonters need to get their shot in order to meet this goal.

June 1, 2021

New or updated information is in red and bold

This update is available online at healthvermont.gov/covid19

Click the See the Daily Update button

Help get Vermont closer to its goal of lifting COVID-19 restrictions by getting vaccinated! Governor Phil Scott has said that once 80% of eligible Vermonters are vaccinated, all state COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted. At his Tuesday press conference, Governor Scott said that only about 11,000 more Vermonters need to get their shot in order to meet this goal.

We continue to add walk-in and other special vaccination opportunities, including at workplaces, houses of worship, libraries, mobile home parks and more. The rained-out Thunder Road clinic, originally set for this past Sunday as part of the Memorial Day Classic, has been rescheduled for Friday, June 4.

Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD, said on Tuesday that if youve been waiting to get vaccinated by your doctor or primary care practice, it might be time to call and see if they are participating, and if they are, get scheduled for your shot.

Vermont employers, health and service organizations, community groups and others who want to host or request a vaccination clinic are encouraged to send in this online Vaccine Clinic Request Form.

If you or anyone you know are still looking for a convenient place to get your shot, just visit healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine or call 855-722-7878. And help spread the word!

Dr. Levine also reminded Vermonters that for public health, meeting the 80% goal does not mean our work stops.

The higher we can get Vermonts vaccination rate, the higher the probability we will truly suppress coronavirus activity in this state, he said. This leads to less opportunity for the virus to be spread between susceptible people, meaning less likelihood of mutations and more virulent strains, and boding well for the fall and winter respiratory virus season.

Vermont Forward Vaccination Data

As of 12 p.m. on June 1, 2021

This data is used to measure progress toward the Vermont Forward goal of 80% of eligible Vermonters vaccinated, when COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted. Data is reported by the CDC and adjusted for duplicate reporting.

PLEASE NOTE: Percentages do not include data from Sunday and Monday, due to the CDCs Memorial Day reporting schedule and our work to adjust the data accordingly. Data will be included in tomorrows (June 2) update.

Description

Number

Percent of eligible Vermonters (12+) with at least one vaccine dose

77.9%

Number of Vermonters needed to reach goal

11,346

Find Health Department vaccine data, including vaccination rates by county, age, sex, race and ethnicity, at the COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard:

healthvermont.gov/covid19-vaccine-data.

COVID-19 Activity in Vermont

As of 12 p.m. on June 1, 2021

Data is updated daily.

Description

Number

New cases

2

(24,224 total)

Currently hospitalized

3

Hospitalized in ICU

1

Hospitalized under investigation

0

Percent Positive (7-day average)

1%

People tested

394,267

Total tests

1,695,921

Total people recovered

23,115

Deaths

255

Find more data on COVID-19 Activity at:healthvermont.gov/currentactivity.

Additional Resources About Vaccination and More

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VDH COVID-19 Update: No deaths in 15 days, Vermont number one in vaccinations - Vermont Biz

On May 27th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance for parents/patients regarding reports of a small number of individuals nationally who developed a rare condition known as myocarditis after recently being vaccinated for COVID-19.

The CDC, and DPH, continue to encourage everyone 12 and older to get vaccinated, as the risk to unvaccinated individuals of contracting COVID-19 and suffering serious illness far exceeds the risk of developing this very rare condition. The CDC continues to evaluate these reported cases, and is encouraging reporting to its nationalvaccine safetymonitoring systems, but thus far the CDC has not found a clear link between vaccine and myocarditis.

Myocarditis isinflammation of the heart muscle. While myocarditis can be serious, it is frequently mild and can fully resolve with appropriate treatment. Symptoms can include abnormal heart rhythms, shortness of breath, or chest pain. Myocarditis can be caused by viruses, like the common cold, seasonal flu and COVID-19.

As of May 24th, working with several Connecticut hospitals, DPH has identified 18 people out of nearly 400,000 fully vaccinated 16-34 year olds who have developed myocarditis after recently receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. DPH will continue to monitor and collect data on future reported cases and collaborate with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine safety monitoring.

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association continue to strongly encourage COVID-19 vaccination, as the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the rare possible risk for heart-related complications.

View original post here:

What to Know about Myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination - CT.gov

What GAO Found

In fiscal year 2020, Congress provided the Small Business Administration (SBA) about $3.4 billion in supplemental appropriations to administer small business assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, including loan programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). That amount is seven times greater than SBA's typical annual resources for salaries and expenses (a budget category encompassing many administrative costs). SBA spending plans show that the agency planned to use the supplemental administrative funds primarily for contract and personnel costs.

As of January 31, 2021, SBA had obligated about 57 percent ($1.9 billion) and expended 49 percent ($1.6 billion) of the supplemental appropriations. SBA used about three-quarters of those funds for contractual services and about one-fifth for personnel (payroll, benefits, and overtime) costs (see figure).

SBA's Obligations and Outlays of Fiscal Year 2020 Supplemental Appropriations for Administrative Expenses as of January 31, 2021, by Use Category

Note: Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

SBA has used the supplemental funds for a variety of contractual services, including (1) loan processing and other loan administration services and (2) information technology products and services. For example, as of January 31, 2021, SBA had obligated about $750 million in supplemental funds for a contract for processing EIDL loan applications and providing recommendations on loan decisions. As of that date, SBA also had obligated about $150 million for a contract to enhance SBA's technology for implementing PPP loan forgiveness provisions. Regarding personnel costs, SBA determined that it needed large, temporary staff increases to manage the greater volume of assistance during the pandemic. According to SBA, the agency hired more than 6,000 temporary employeesalmost one-half of them for loan specialist positionsfor the office that administers the EIDL program. SBA also reported hiring close to 400 temporary employeesabout two-thirds of them for loan specialist positionsfor other SBA components, including the office that administers PPP.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted small businesses and generated an immediate need for emergency funding to keep businesses operating. In response, Congress dramatically increased the amount of loans, grants, and other financial assistance available from SBA. To help SBA manage the large volume of assistance, Congress provided the agency additional funds for administrative expenses.

Congress included a provision in statute for GAO to report on SBA's use of supplemental appropriations provided in fiscal year 2020 for administrative expenses. This report discusses (1) the amount of supplemental appropriations SBA received in fiscal year 2020 for administrative expenses and SBA's planned uses for these funds, and (2) the extent to which SBA had obligated and expended these funds as of January 31, 2021, and for what purposes.

To conduct this work, GAO reviewed appropriations legislation, analyzed SBA spending plans and financial data, and interviewed SBA officials.

For more information, contact William B. Shear at (202) 512-8678 or shearw@gao.gov.

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Small Business Administration: Use of Supplemental Funds for Administering COVID-19-Related Programs - Government Accountability Office

On Friday, city officials announced that nearly all COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted in Philly on Wednesday, June 2, nearly ten days earlier than originally planned. As of tomorrow, density limits, capacity limits, and social distancing rules will end, with an 11 p.m. dining last call remaining in place at restaurants and masks still required until at least June 11, when the Health Department will reassess coronavirus cases in the city.

The larger commonwealth of Pennsylvania lifted all restrictions on Monday, May 31, to cap off the Memorial Day weekend. As has been the case throughout the pandemic, the city of Philadelphia has kept its own rules, which meant limiting restaurants to a maximum of 75 percent capacity for indoor dining. The changes taking effect on June 2 mean an almost full return to normal for bars and restaurants in the city.

Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole, who replaced former commissioner Thomas Farley after he resigned last month over mishandling the remains of victims from the 1985 MOVE Bombing, said that COVID cases have continued to drop and positivity rates and hospitalizations remain low. These are encouraging signs that vaccination is truly turning the tide in Philadelphia, Bettigole said. We still have work to do to reach all Philadelphians, but we also want people to celebrate the good parts of life that we get back by getting vaccinated.

Masks are still required indoors in both the city and the state. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf previously said that mask mandates will be lifted by the end of June. According to city officials, the mask mandate and 11 p.m. last call could be lifted on June 11, but only after the Health Department reviews the state of the pandemic in the city.

The latest CDC guidance for vaccinated diners during the COVID-19 outbreak is here; dining out still carries risks for unvaccinated diners and workers. Please be aware of changing local rules, and check individual restaurant websites for any additional restrictions such as mask requirements. Find a local vaccination site here.

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Philly Will Lift Nearly All of Its COVID-19 Restrictions on June 2 - Eater Philly