'We've been really good': places of worship say COVID-19 protocols are working WOAI
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'We've been really good': places of worship say COVID-19 protocols are working - WOAI
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that 145,811 COVID-19 diagnostic test results were reported to New York State yesterdaya new record high. In the top 20 ZIP codes in areas that have seen recent outbreaks - Brooklyn, Queens, and Rockland and Orange Counties - 7,349 tests were conducted, yielding 426 positives or a 5.8 percent positivity rate. In the remainder of the state, 138,462 tests were conducted yielding 1,410 positives or a 1.01 percent positivity rate.
"Yesterday we did 145,000 tests, which is a new record for the State of New York. That's more tests than anyone's doing in the United States, a new high for us. The tests, and the reason we're increasing tests, is we're testing two universes--the normal statewide testing, which is what we've been doing, and then testing just in the hot spot ZIP codes," Governor Cuomo said. "Some have reported that the state's infection rate is going up. That is not a fact and that is incorrect. The clusters are what we are watching. The clusters are 6 percent of the state population. I don't think there's any other state that does enough testing to even know what 6 percent of the population is doing. So don't confuse 6 percent of the population and say it's representative of the state."
New York State continues to track clusters with a particular focus on areas where there are hot spot, cluster situations. Within the top 20 ZIP codes in counties with recent outbreaks - Brooklyn, Queens, and Rockland and Orange Counties - the average rate of positive tests is 5.8 percent. The rate of positive tests for the remainder of New York State, not counting these 20 ZIP codes, is 1.01 percent. These 20 ZIP codes contained 23.2 percent of all positive cases in New York State yesterday, but represent only 6.2 percent of the state's population.
Areas in hot spot communities, predominantly in Brooklyn, Queens and Rockland and Orange Counties, will continue to be subject of focused testing efforts including access to rapid testing machines. The ZIP codes are available below, sorted by highest positivity on 7-day average.
COUNTY
ZIP
% POSITIVE 10/7
% POSITIVE 10/6
% POSITIVE - 3 DAY AVG
% POSITIVE - 7 DAY AVG
% POSITIVE - 14 DAY AVG
Orange
10950
10.1%
13.3%
12.1%
15.0%
16.3%
Rockland
10952
16.0%
8.3%
14.4%
13.1%
14.1%
Rockland
10977
10.6%
10.1%
11.7%
11.7%
12.5%
Kings
11223
7.4%
5.3%
5.9%
7.6%
6.8%
Kings
11230
4.6%
4.8%
4.8%
6.1%
6.1%
Queens
11367
3.8%
5.8%
6.4%
6.0%
5.0%
Kings
11219
6.1%
10.6%
7.1%
5.9%
5.8%
Rockland
10901
4.6%
1.5%
4.5%
5.6%
6.4%
Kings
11204
4.2%
5.9%
5.3%
5.2%
5.4%
Kings
11210
3.2%
3.6%
4.4%
5.1%
5.4%
Orange
12550
4.2%
4.7%
4.0%
4.6%
3.4%
Kings
11229
3.8%
4.4%
4.0%
4.4%
4.2%
Rockland
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Governor Cuomo Announces New Record High Number of COVID-19 Tests Reported - ny.gov
It affects virtually nobody, President Donald Trump said of the novel coronavirus on September 21a few hours before U.S. deaths from COVID-19 exceeded 200,000 and less than two weeks before he tested positive. Unlike the president, the numbers dont lie. The human toll underlying that milestone figure is a number about as big as the population of Salt Lake City or Birmingham, Ala.and greater than the deaths in any U.S. conflict except for the Civil War and World War II.
The figures speak for themselves, and Scientific American takes a deeper look here. COVID-19 became the third biggest cause of deaths in the week of March 30 to April 4, trailing heart disease and cancer. It killed more people than stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimers, diabetes, kidney disease or influenza.In that week, close to 10,000 people died of the illness caused by the coronavirus. The flu, which Trump and others have invoked when discussing COVID-19, led to 1,870 deaths (a figure that includes pneumonia) over the same time frame. A spike in the week-by-week accounting came in mid-April, when COVID-19 cases became the leading cause of death. The disease returned to the third deadliest spot in the week of May 4 to 9and has stayed there since.
This profile of loss can be broadened further to measure excess deaths above typical mortality rates. Provisional death counts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that more people died every month from March to August this year than during the same period in the past 20 years. (The statistics include deaths from both the virus and upticks for other causes such as a lack of medical care as hospitals became overwhelmed.)
COVID-19 marks at least a temporary setback for epidemiology. The share of Americans who died in the first eight months of this year was greater than that of any year going back to 1970a year that paradoxically turned out to be a good one for public health. In 1970 President Richard Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, put his signature on a bill to ban television and radio cigarette ads, and sent to Congress a plan for setting up the Environmental Protection Agency. Maybe such actions can serve as precedents in years ahead when policy makers convene to plan for the inevitability of future pandemics.
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COVID-19 Is Now the Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S. - Scientific American
The governor unveiled a new TV ad in which Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo and other sports figures urge Michigan residents to mask up, July 15, 2020. Wochit
The leader of Michigan's health department issued a sweeping order Friday that largely mirrors statewide mandates previously levied by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The newly instituted order requires masks at any public gathering with two or more people including sporting events and schools for much of the state and maintains restrictions on the number of people who may enterstores or restaurants. Unlike under Whitmer's orders,bars are now allowed to operate but they may only serve alcohol to people who are sitting down and 6 feet apart.
Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, addresses lawmaker questions on August 13, 2020.(Photo: Screen shot)
More: Michigan Supreme Court rules against Whitmer on emergency powers but effect unclear
More: Gov. Whitmer: Senate GOP leader shows 'disdain for science' on wearing masks
There are still masks exemptions in the order, including for those who medically cannot wear one, people who are eating or those attending a religious service.
The order also requires contact tracing efforts for specific locations like barbershops,entertainmentand amusement venues, like some high school sporting events, movie theaters and bowling alleys. There are exceptions for outdoor, non-ticketed events. But the order still requires that anyone who wants to enter one of the coveredestablishments must provide their name and contact information, and that the business must keep this log in the event someone contracts COVID-19 and health officials need to reach to attendees.
The order takes effect immediately and runs through Oct. 30, replacing a previous order issued on Monday.
Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said the order is needed after a recentMichigan Supreme Court decision threw into flux months of actions taken by the governor.
"We understand people are confused and they want clarity, and that's why we have issued orders that, as much as possible, are the same as the orders that were already in place, because there was thisextremely disruptive court case and we're trying to just reinstate," Gordon said in an interview Friday with the Free Press.
"Nothing would make us happier than to be able to pull back on the requirements here. Nobody is enjoying this. We're doing this because wearing masks and social distancing are our best tools for constraining COVID, saving lives and getting back to normal."
Gordon noted these orders are especially necessary now given the ongoing severity of the pandemic. He pointed to the rising number of cases and hospitalizations in Michigan in recent weeks.
As of this week, there have been more than 132,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state and more than 6,800 deaths from the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to the state health department.
More: Michigan Supreme Court rules against Whitmer on emergency powers but effect unclear
More: Michigan cities, counties uncertain on mask requirements amid Supreme Court ruling
LastFriday, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled4-3 that the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945, which Whitmer has been using as the major legal underpinning for her emergency orders related to the pandemic, is unconstitutional because it unlawfully cedes powers that belong with the Legislature to the governor.
The court also unanimously ruled that under the Emergency Management Act of 1976, Whitmer cannot maintain a state of emergency beyond 28 days without legislative approval. That approval expired at the end of April, and has not been renewed.
While Whitmer said she disagreed with the court's decision, she noted there were "alternate sources of authority" through which orders aimed at preventing the spread of the pandemic would continue.
These include the actions of Gordon and other state agency administrators. Gordon said the department is issuing the orders in accordance with a state law stemming from the 1918 flu pandemic, one that was not addressed by the Supreme Court ruling.
The specific portion of the law Gordon cites states, in part, "If the director determines that control of an epidemic is necessary to protect the public health, the director by emergency order may prohibit the gathering of people for any purpose and may establish procedures to be followed during the epidemic to insure continuation of essential public health services and enforcement of health laws."
The department is acting under a different law, enacted in response to the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 and meant to deal with exactly the circumstance we are facing. We are acting under a specific authority granted by the Michigan Legislature to save lives in this very circumstance of a pandemic, Gordon said.
The order applies to all of the state, but there are some looser restrictions for Region 6 thatstretches across the northern Lower Peninsula, from Traverse City to Alpena.
Specifics of the order include:
Gordon previouslyissued orders related toreporting of COVID-19 cases in Michigan schoolsand protecting residents and staff in state institutions such as juvenile justice facilities. The new orders replicated parts of former Whitmer emergency orders struck down by state's high court.
More: Michigan coronavirus cases: Tracking the pandemic
More: Men charged in plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer spotted in photo at Capitol gun rally
The orders were both heralded by health experts and blasted by some business owners and other citizens. They prompted protests at the Capitol earlier this year. On Thursday, state and federal authorities announced they had thwarted an effort by 13 men to allegedly kidnap and kill the governor, at least in part based on the idea that she had overstepped her executive authority.
Many Republican lawmakers have complained for months about Whitmer's executive orders, arguing they usurp the power of the Legislature and are overreaching. They point to at least a piece of legislation the governor vetoed as well, arguing she does not want to work with lawmakers to pass measures that would serve instead of executive orders.
After the Supreme Court's ruling, state senators returned to session Thursday to take up several measures introduced months earlier. The measures would increase unemployment insurance for people who lost their job because of the pandemic and offer legal protections to businesses trying to operate under health and safety regulations.
Although the bills could have been put up for a vote over the summer or more recently, they passed Thursday with bipartisan support. House lawmakers are expected to take up the measures on Tuesday and send them to the governor.
The health department had conversations with business and trade associations Friday morning to discuss the specifics of the order. Gordon said the state is looking for feedback, and could change some requirements in the future.
For now though, he said these orders will help keep all Michigan residents safer.
"We must keep our guard up. You can be a Democrat or a Republican, you can support orders or oppose them. The virus does not care, and it is growing. So we have to respond based on the science, and that's what our actions this week have done," Gordon said.
Contact Dave Boucher: dboucher@freepress.com or 313-938-4591. Follow him on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.
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Just in case you were about to feel an unfamiliar spasm of sympathy for Donald Trump following his contraction of coronavirus, this week has provided a helpful reminder not only of his morally repugnant character but also of the danger he poses to the United States and the wider world.
Firmly in the first category is his attempt to blame his infection on the grieving relatives of slain soldiers, citing Gold Star families tendency to come within an inch of my face. Speaking to Fox Business on Thursday, Trump said, They want to hug me and they want to kiss me, and so perhaps it was them who had made him sick. Clearly keen not to keep all that viral load to himself, Trump later told Fox News in between coughing bouts that he plans to host a rally in Florida on Saturday and another in Pennsylvania. Hell doubtless repeat the gesture he premiered in his bargain-bin Mussolini performance on the White House balcony on Monday night, ripping off his mask with a flourish as if to prove that nothing and nobody will stop him shrouding his devotees in a cloud of his contaminated breath.
More serious are his assaults on democracy, which become ever more explicit. Lashing out at his own henchmen, he channelled Elton John to warn that the slavishly loyal attorney general, William Barr, would find himself in a sad, sad situation if he did not indict Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden for the greatest political crime in the history of our country, namely the federal inquiry into the 2016 Trump campaigns links to Russia. Like strutting on a balcony, threatening to jail your predecessor along with your former and current opponents for political crimes tends to be a feature of darkly authoritarian states rather than democratic ones.
As if to confirm that Trumps threats to democracy are not empty, that the signals he transmits are received, 13 men were arrested in Michigan on Thursday over a violent plot to kidnap the states governor and try her for treason. Youll recall that in April, Trump urged his followers, angry about the states lockdown, to LIBERATE MICHIGAN!. Trumps chief response to the revelation of this episode of domestic terrorism was not contrition, but rather a rebuke to the governor for failing to say thank you to my justice department for uncovering the conspiracy. That my is telling: it is the grammar of the authoritarian strongman.
Most Republicans continue, like Trumps doctors, to act as enablers in all this. Especially eye-catching was a tweet from infected senator Mike Lee of Utah, arguing that democracy was less important than liberty, peace and prosperity and that sometimes Rank democracy can thwart those goals. Few Republicans dare echo the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who rather generously described Trumps increasingly unhinged ramblings as evidence that hes in an altered state.
And yet, the admission by the Republican leader in the senate, Mitch McConnell, that he had not gone near the White House since 6 August because of the administrations lax approach to masks and social distancing, was striking. Now, McConnell is not a man to speak without prior thought: unencumbered by scruples, he is a political calculating machine. And what that remark suggests is the calculation that Republicans need to distance themselves from a president they suspect is heading towards defeat.
Theyve seen the polls, same as everyone else. Those show Bidens lead growing when the race should be tightening, the Democrat consistently ahead in every battleground state bar Florida, and breathing down Trumps neck in states that should be reliably Republican, including must-win Ohio. Whats more, Bidens lead has increased since Trumps diagnosis a week ago. Hard-headed Republicans are beginning to suspect that the pandemic will be the presidents undoing.
If thats right, there would be a compelling, even karmic, logic to it. For Covid-19 could almost have been designed to expose the essence, and failings, of Trumpism.
Consider that one of Trumpisms defining traits is its contempt for truth, facts and science. It was during Trumps first weekend in office that he had his officials lie about the size of his inaugural crowd and speak of alternative facts. Opponents railed against this epistemic vandalism, but truth always seemed an abstract, even elitist concern. And then came coronavirus, accompanied by Trumps insistence that it would just disappear like a miracle, or that it could be chased away with an injection of bleach, as if to demonstrate in the starkest possible terms where a disdain for facts and for science leads: namely, to the graves of more than 200,000 Americans.
Similarly, Trumpism adapts the traditional Republican attachment to individual freedom and mutates it into a darker, Darwinian belief that the strong individual can and should do whatever they like, and to hell with the suckers and losers who might suffer as a result. In normal times, plenty of Trump supporters saw that as an exhilarating libertinism, one that allowed Trump to cheat on his wives and pay no taxes, all without consequences. Theyd have lived like that if they could. But coronavirus doesnt work that way. Suddenly the suckers and losers included Trump supporters, or their loved ones. The virus even caught up with Trump himself along with everyone who got near him.
And, of course, Trumpism is defined by its toxic brand of masculinity, mocking Biden for wearing a mask Might as well carry a purse with that mask, Joe, quipped one Fox host forgetting that covering your face is mainly to protect others, not yourself. Trump is still bragging that he is a perfect physical specimen, that hes seen off Covid, but he says it while wheezing. This virus has done to Trumpian machismo what its done to Trumpian disrespect for rules and science: its exposed it as hollow and a failure.
We dont know what further twists await in this long, melancholy drama; we dont know who will win next month. But if Donald Trump is ejected from office, Americans will still have to wrestle with a tough question: what does it say about the US if it took a pandemic to do it?
Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist
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Covid-19 has unmasked the true nature of Donald Trump and Trumpism - The Guardian
According to UN-Habitat, 100 million people worldwide are homeless, and at least 1 billion live in inadequate housing or overcrowded informal settlements. These already high numbers are surging due to the pandemic's economic impact, and now having a safe place to call home has become even more challenging for people around the world. Here is how you can help those experiencing housing insecurity this World Homeless Day.
Find a local shelter in your community and see what they need, such as nonperishable goods, clothing, or basic supplies. Gathering and donating those items which are in high demand can be very helpful to your local shelter.
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Covid-19 is worsening homelessness and housing insecurity. Here's how you can help - CNN
Experts think monoclonal antibodies, like the cocktail taken by Mr. Trump, could fare better than hydroxychloroquine and convalescent plasma.
The treatment is super promising, and all of us are excited from a theoretical perspective, Dr. Ranney said. But its just too early, she added, to tell if theory will translate into practice.
Monoclonal antibodies are synthetic, mass-produced mimics of the molecules the human body produces in response to an infection. Some antibodies are powerful enough to block the coronavirus from infiltrating cells. Administered to people battling the coronavirus, the monoclonal antibodies could help naturally produced immune molecules fend off the virus.
Just days before Mr. Trump tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to the hospital, Regeneron announced a batch of preliminary results, collected from ongoing trials, via news release. They suggested Regenerons monoclonal antibody cocktail could tamp down the amount of virus found in the nasal cavity, and hasten recovery in people who had contracted the virus but hadnt been hospitalized.
On Wednesday evening, Regeneron announced it was seeking an emergency approval from the F.D.A. for its antibody cocktail.
The data so far for monoclonal antibodies looks very promising, said Dr. Phyllis Tien, an infectious disease physician at the University of California, San Francisco. But its crucial, she added, to let the trials run to completion to fully assess safety and efficacy. Unanticipated side effects could crop up, or the treatment might not perform as well in certain people as it does in others.
Mr. Trumps allusions to making monoclonal antibodies free for widespread use are also probably off base. Monoclonal antibodies are expensive and difficult to produce in large quantities. Regeneron estimated that it would initially have enough doses for only 50,000 people, though the company plans to scale up production in coming months.
Whats cheaper, Dr. Ranney said, are the many preventive strategies available to keep the virus from infecting people in the first place, such as masks and physical distancing: How about we focus on that?
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With Cure Comment, Trump Exaggerates Known Benefits of Another Covid-19 Therapy - The New York Times
While COVID-19s impact on the nations health and economy has been a continuing issue in the upcoming election, President Donald Trumps recent bout with the virus has made it personal for many Americans. Trumps health is likely to make the pandemic more relevant in parts of the country that voted for him in the 2016 presidential election.
This analysis extends my earlier tracking of COVID-19s spread into red states and counties across the country. It shows that while the overall rate of the spread has diminished somewhat from mid-summer, the disparity in cases between red and blue areas has continued, and is now widening in parts of the Midwest and in smaller communities. This may prove relevant to the presidential race, as some groups who live in these countiessuch as seniorsreport COVID-19 to be a top issue in the election, even eclipsing the economy.
The trajectory of new COVID-19 case rates (defined as the number of new monthly cases per 100,000 population) continues to grow in Americas red states. This pattern was first observed over the June-to-August period, and has now continued through September. (See Figure 1 for COVID-19 case rates across the nations red and blue states.)
In March, April, and May, blue states, as a group, exhibited higher COVID-19 case rates. But in June, they were overtaken by red states, and have remained lower since. The red state surge was especially high in July, rising to 746 cases per 100,000 residentsmore than double that of blue states. And while rates for both groups of states declined in August and September, the monthly rate of new COVID-19 cases in red states remains markedly higher. The September rate of 460 cases per 100,000 residents in red states is nearly twice that of blue states, and stands higher than even the peak blue state rate from April.
Individual states with the highest new COVID-19 rates have shifted as well, with many more red states dominating the list in recent months. These can be tracked in Figure 2, which displays individual red and blue states that showed monthly new COVID-19 rates exceeding 500 cases per 100,000 residents through September.
When the pandemic first hit the U.S., blue states in the Northeast exhibited the highest case rates. In April, both New York and New Jersey each registered new COVID-19 rates exceeding 1,100 cases per 100,000 population, followed by the New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, along with Washington, D.C. In May, Illinois and Maryland crossed the threshold of over 500 new cases per 100,000 populationas did Nebraska, the first red state to do so. No blue state reached the new case threshold in June, but one red state, Arizona, did.
July saw a surge of red states cross the new case rate threshold, with strong representation in the Southled by Florida with 1,400 cases per 100,000 residents, followed by Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama, along with western state Arizona. Each of these states exceeded 1,000 new cases per 100,000 residents. Eight additional red statessix in the Southshowed rates exceeding 500 new cases per 100,000 residents.
This surge continued into August, when 16 red states10 in the Southsaw high new COVID-19 case rates, led by Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. Further down the list were the midwestern states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas, as well as the western state of Idaho. Although red states dominated the list of places with high rates of new COVID-19 cases in July and August, the blue states of California and Nevada also joined those ranks in both months.
September was noteworthy in that only red states reached the threshold of 500 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population. There was greater visibility in the Midwest, with North Dakota leading the 16 states in this group with a rate of 1,300 cases per 100,000 residents, followed by South Dakota and Wisconsin. Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska are also on Septembers list, along with six southern and three western states. Although no blue states reached the new case rate threshold in September, those that come closest were the midwestern states of Illinois and Minnesota.
Just as new COVID-19 cases spread to red states, it is now occurring more broadly in red counties as well. This is significant because some may argueinaccuratelythat statewide surges in red states were only the result of high rates in heavily urban counties that are associated with Democratic voting patterns.
Figure 3 displays the trends in new monthly COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents for red and blue counties (those won by either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election). Compared to the statewide analysis above, new COVID-19 rates were higher for blue counties though June. For July and August, new COVID-19 rates in red counties were only modestly higher than those in blue counties.
But in September, that difference widened. That month, red counties, as a group, registered a new COVID-19 case rate of 427 cases per 100,000 residents, compared to 315 for blue counties. Among individual states in September, it is noteworthy that this increase occurred in the swing states and near-swing states of Wisconsin, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, and Georgia.
Another recent shift in both red and blue states is the rise in new COVID-19 case rates in smaller metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. As my previous report indicated, case rates in the early months of the pandemic tended to be highest in urban cores and suburbs surrounding large metropolitan areas. But over the summer, that pattern began to shift, with rising case rates in smaller-sized areas.
This was clearly the case in September. Figure 4 shows new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 persons for counties classified by a Brookings system that identifies urban cores, large suburbs, small metropolitan areas, and non-metropolitan areas. In both red and blue states, small metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties registered higher new COVID-19 case rates than urban cores or large suburban counties. This is especially the case in the electorally significant states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Carolina.
This is important because in the 2016 election, the strongest Republican support came from rural or small-town residents. As the COVID-19 spreads into those areas, residents opinions on how the pandemic is being handled is likely to influence their vote.
In September, a total of 1,166 counties saw new COVID-19 cases exceed 500 per 100,000 residents. Fully 1,025 of them are red counties which Trump won in 2016, while only 141 favored Clinton. Those Trump counties are home to 41 million people, compared to 24 million residing in the Clinton counties.
A large portion of this group of red counties is located in the middle of the country, in states such as Missouri, Tennessee, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Among all counties with high COVID-19 case rates in September, just five were located in urban core regions, with fully 1,038 (representing 38 million people) located in small metropolitan or non-metropolitan territory.
President Trumps contraction of COVID-19 has occurred just as the virus is spreading to new states and counties that he won in the 2016 election. The degree to which he will receive those residents continued support will likely depend on how they evaluate his administrations handling of the pandemic since it first started.
One group that the pandemic has heavily impacted is the older adult population. Older adults were strong Trump supporters in 2016, and they comprise an especially significant part of the electorate in rural and small towns where COVID-19 has begun to spread. A late September Washington Post/ABC poll showed that among persons age 65 and older, 24% said that the coronavirus outbreak was the single most important issue in selecting a president. It is likely that recent polls showing increased support for Joe Biden among this group could reflect a negative assessment of the presidents handling of the pandemic that now has hit closer to where they live.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unimaginable damage to large segments of the population. Its continued spread to more parts of the country is a matter that needs to be reckoned withand this Election Day, voters are poised to do exactly that.
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As Election Day nears, COVID-19 spreads further into red America - Brookings Institution
NBC 5 Responds has been tracking complaints and investigating issues with COVID-19 medical bills and testing costs.
Several North Texans contacted our team with concerns after they paid $50 for a COVID-19 test after visiting Total Care in Benbrook. A few months later, they each received and explanation of benefits from their insurance provider and discovered Total Care charged more than $10,000 for that visit.
Benbrook resident, Tim Aranki, recovered from a strange cough and said he popped into the Total Care.
The latest news from around North Texas.
Come June, I thought, as testing became more widely available, Id go and get the test, said Aranki.
Aranki said he went for an antibody test but agreed to a diagnostic COVID-19 test as well.
It's going to be $50 either way. You know, you might as well get both while you're here, said Aranki.
Aranki tells NBC 5 Responds the entire visit took a few minutes.Which is why he said he couldnt make sense of the explanation of benefits from his health insurance company.
It shows the facility billed his insurance $10,198.66.
There was no other examinations done. It was literally two swabs and a pinprick on my finger, said Aranki.
Premera Blue Cross confirms it paid the claim and Aranki wouldnt have to pay anything more than the $50 he paid Total Care.
I had no idea what they were billing the insurance, said Tricia Sheridan, a resident in Tarrant County.
Sheridan said she was also surprised when she learned Total Care billed Cigna $11,049.16 to test for COVID-19 and antibodies.
NBC 5 responds asked Cigna about the charges and the company replied with this statement, People deserve protection and peace of mind when it comes to their health, which is why Cigna works with providers to reduce situations where a person receives an unexpected bill for health services, and our Customer Protection Program ensures customers are protected against surprise billing from out of network providers. Unfortunately, it seems that some clinics are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by luring patients in for care via deceptive advertising and then charging outrageous amounts of money for COVID-related testing. While we are unable to comment directly on this customers case, we are taking appropriate actions with this provider and protecting the customer from cost-sharing.
Even if it was covered by insurance, based on principle, in my opinion, I wouldn't go back knowing they were charging that amount for a blood test, said Sheridan.
And a third patient, who asked us to only share her first name shared her explanation of benefits, showing the same Total Care in Benbrook billed UnitedHealthcare $10,985.88.
I kind of went to my claims and went, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on! Whats going on? questioned Dorothy.
United said it paid the claim and in an email to NBC 5 wrote its first priority was to ensure members were covered.
While not commenting directly about Total Care, United goes on to say quote Unfortunately, there continue to be care providers who are trying to take advantage of this situation and are inappropriately or even fraudulently billing. We will continue to investigate this matter and, if appropriate, seek to recoup any overpayment and potentially refer this case to law enforcement.
I think that insurance companies find themselves a little bit in between a rock and hard place, said Niall Brennan, President and CEO of the Health Care Cost Institute.
Brennan said the Cares Act created a loophole some providers are using to cash in.
The act said insurance companies must waive cost-sharing payments for COVID-19 testing and many private insurers are waiving payments for related treatment.
When you have a loophole like that, combined with even a small number of unscrupulous providers, you end up with people getting these very large bills, said Brennan.
NBC 5 asked a Castlight Health, a healthcare data company, what providers are charging insurance companies for tests.
According to their data that sampled more than 100,000 bills for coronavirus tests, Castlight reported that 82.6% cost $100 dollars or less.
NBC 5 Responds called, sent emails and even Facebook and LinkedIn messages to Total Care Benbrook, but no one responded to our questions.
Its important to note that stand-alone emergency rooms like Total Care may charge more than your primary care doctor for the convenience of 24-hour and no-appointment-needed care under Texas House Bill 3276.
All the patients in this story told NBC 5 Responds someone took their vitals and each saw an emergency room doctor, briefly.
Even so, Brennan said, these charges are among the most unreasonable hes seen in the pandemic.
I think some of the bills that you sent me are certainly contenders for most outlandish, said Brennan.
The patients we spoke to all said they went to Total Care in Benbrook because it offered a $50 test.
NBC 5 Responds also called the facility and was told the price for a COVID test is $550 if youre not insured and confirmed they charge $50 if you are.
We asked Gene Besen an attorney who typically represents insurance providers to weigh in on the charges we were seeing.
Is it designed to get them in the door so they can then go drive a bunch of extra stuff on top of it? Probably, said Besen.
He also points out insurance companies are often the first line of defense.
If this were one or two patients and that were it, maybe that goes unnoticed and just gets paid and so be it. if there's a pattern here, I would be pretty confident the insurance companies will detect it, said Besen.
Even so, Bensen said sometimes it takes patients who may not owe anything out-of-pocket asking questions because eventually everyone could end up paying.
Thats what's going to drive insurance rates up for everybody is companies taking advantage of the system like this, said Aranki.
The Texas Association of Health Plans said it sent a letter to Governor Greg Abbott asking lawmakers to ban what it calls excessive fees at free standing emergency rooms.
Specifically calling out fees for asymptomatic testing the kind the patients in this story say they underwent.
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News Release
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
The National Institutes of Health, working in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), today announced a third round of contract awards for scale-up and manufacturing of new COVID-19 testing technologies. The six new Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative contracts total $98.35 million for point-of-care and other novel test approaches that provide new modes of sample collection, processing and return of results. Innovations in these new technologies include integration with smart devices, mobile-lab processing that can be deployed to COVID-19 hot spots, and test results available within minutes.
These awards are part of the RADx Tech program, focused on rapidly advancing early testing technologies. RADx Tech and the RADx Advanced Technology Platforms (RADx-ATP) the latter for late-stage scale-up projects are now supporting a combined portfolio of 22 companies for a total of $476.4 million in manufacturing expansion contracts. These six additional technologies are expected to add as many as 500,000 tests per day to the U.S. capacity by the end of 2020 and 1 million tests per day by early 2021. Combined with previous contractsannounced in July and September, RADx Tech and RADx-ATP contracts are expected to increase test capacity by 2.7 million tests per day by the end of 2020.
Since launching in April, the NIH RADx initiative has moved swiftly to facilitate critical expansion of early and late-stage testing technologies as well as research to remove barriers to testing for underserved and vulnerable populations, said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. Each of the technologies emerging from the RADx initiative will play a critical role in extending accessibility to testing in diverse settings.
The latest group of testing technologies have been optimized and assessed within the NIH RADx Tech development pipeline and have met the rigorous criteria for advancement. Factors such as speed, accuracy, cost and accessibility are key considerations for RADx support. The RADx initiative provides financial support and expertise to help companies reach milestones for U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization, scale-up and commercialization.
The current round of awards support five technologies that can be delivered to the point of care and a powerful laboratorytest, said Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and lead for RADx Tech, one of four programs of the NIH RADx initiative. The technologies include an antigen test that provides results in 15 minutes, a viral RNA test deployed in mobile vans that can travel to COVID hotspots and tests that require only saliva, nasal swabs or blood from a finger prick.
BARDA, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provided the funding for these RADx Tech contracts from emergency supplemental appropriations to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund.
BARDA has contributed substantially to the nations COVID testing capacity with development support of 30 SARS-COV-2 diagnostic tests since March, 15 of which have achieved FDA emergency use authorization (EUA). Five of the 30 tests can distinguish between influenza and SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from the same sample, and two of those have achieved EUA. To date, BARDAs industry partners have shipped more than 45 million tests to healthcare providers across the country.
Through the RADx initiative, we are expanding on our long-standing partnership with NIH to bring essential technology to the American people in the fight against COVID-19, said BARDA Acting Director Gary L. Disbrow, Ph.D.Our staff at BARDA is lending our expertise and experience in advanced development, manufacturing and scale up to help make as many accurate, fast tests available as we can as quickly as possible.
The following companies have achieved key RADx Tech milestones and will receive support for manufacturing and scale up:
Ellume USA LLC, Valencia, California
Two unique test cartridges contain a single-use, digital fluorescent immunoassay antigen test that returns accurate results in 15 minutes or less.One cartridge testing nasal swabs can be read out on two platforms by healthcare professionals, at the point of care or in laboratory settings for higher throughput. A second cartridge is being developed for home use with a self-administered nasal swab.
Luminostics, Inc., Milpitas, California
A rapid, smartphone-readout, antigen immunoassay that uses glow-in-the-dark nanomaterials to sensitively and specifically detect SARS-CoV-2 from shallow nasal swabs in 30 minutes or less, first for point-of-care use and later for home use.
Quanterix, Billerica, Massachusetts
A laboratory antigen test with ultra-sensitive single-molecule immunoassay technology to enable detection from a variety of sample types including nasopharyngeal, saliva or self-acquired blood from a finger prick. Sample collection, transport, and processing will occur within 24-48 hours using existing sample collection logistics infrastructure through a network of centralized labs.
Flambeau Diagnostics, Madison, Wisconsin
A lab module that can be deployed in a mobile van to screen asymptomatic individuals to detect SARS-CoV-2at low viral levelsin saliva samples, returning results in as little as one hour. The system can serve employers, schools and underserved populations. It uses newextractiontechnology to purify and concentrate viral RNA reliably and quickly.
Ubiquitome, Auckland, New Zealand
A battery-operated, mobile RT-PCR device that detects viral RNA with high accuracy in 40 minutes and reports results via its proprietary iPhone app. It offers high throughput and could be much lower cost than lab-based RT-PCR tests. The device is targeted for use in rural and metropolitan hospitals and mobile labs.
Visby Medical, San Jose, California
A palm-sized, single-use RT-PCR device that detects viral RNA with highly accurate results at the point of care in 30 minutes. The device was designed to be used by a person with minimal skills. This novel, versatile technology platform can also be adapted to provide simple, rapid tests for other diseases such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and influenza.
About the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx SM) initiative: The RADx initiative was launched on April 29, 2020, to speed innovation in the development, commercialization, and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing. The initiative has four programs: RADx Tech, RADx Advanced Technology Platforms, RADx Underserved Populations and RADx Radical. It leverages the existing NIH Point-of-Care Technology Research Network. The RADx initiative partners with federal agencies, including the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health, Department of Defense, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Learn more about the RADx initiative and its programs:https://www.nih.gov/radx.
About HHS, ASPR, and BARDA: HHS works to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans, providing for effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. The mission of ASPR is to save lives and protect Americans from 21st century health security threats. Within ASPR, BARDA invests in the innovation, advanced research and development, acquisition, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products needed to combat health security threats. To date, 55 BARDA-supported products have achieved FDA approval, licensure or clearance. For more on BARDAs portfolio for COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccines and treatments and about partnering with BARDA, visit medicalcountermeasures.gov. To learn more about federal support for the all-of-America COVID-19 response, visit coronavirus.gov.
About the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB):NIBIBs mission is to improve health by leading the development and accelerating the application of biomedical technologies. The Institute is committed to integrating the physical and engineering sciences with the life sciences to advance basic research and medical care. NIBIB supports emerging technology research and development within its internal laboratories and through grants, collaborations, and training. More information is available at the NIBIB website:https://www.nibib.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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NIH RADx initiative advances six new COVID-19 testing technologies - National Institutes of Health
