Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC, FEMA Create Road Map To Reopen Country With A Focus On Communication, Ramping Up Testing Supplies
The Washington Post: CDC, FEMA Have Created A Plan To Reopen America. Here’s What It Says.
A team of government officials — led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — has created a public health strategy to combat the novel coronavirus and reopen parts of the country. Their strategy, obtained by The Washington Post, is part of a larger White House effort to draft a national plan to get Americans out of their homes and back to work. It gives guidance to state and local governments on how they can ease mitigation efforts, moving from drastic restrictions such as stay-at-home orders in a phased way to support a safe reopening. (Sun, Dawsey and Wan, 4/14)
CNN: CDC, FEMA Have Drafted A National Plan To Reopen US, Report Says
The strategy has three phases, according to the report. One is readying the country through a "communication campaign and community readiness assessment until May 1," according to the Post. In the second phase, manufacturing of testing kits and protective equipment would be stepped up and emergency funding increased. That would go through May 15, the Post reported. "Staged reopenings" would start after that and would depend on conditions locally. (Waldrop, 4/14)
The Washington Post: Read: ‘Focus On The Future – Going To Work For America’
A team of government officials has created a public health response to a national plan to re-open the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. This document is an early draft executive summary by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is part of CDC’s public health response to an overall national plan. (4/14)
NPR: FEMA Administrator Gaynor Has Experience But Faces Issues
Leading the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the coronavirus pandemic may be one of the most thankless jobs in government right now. Governors are clamoring for more supplies, like ventilators and face masks. The president engages in public feuds with those governors. And other administration officials work back channels to acquire their own stockpiles of supplies. And in the middle of all this is Pete Gaynor, a former Marine and former head of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, who now directs FEMA. (Naylor, 4/15)
Politico: Covid-19 Case Hits FEMA's Coronavirus Command Center
An employee at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s command center tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, bringing home the disease’s dangers at the very facility where the federal government's response to the coronavirus pandemic is being managed. According to an administration official, it is the first such positive case at FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center, which is located inside the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Lippman, 4/14)
