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FEMA ADVISORY – April 27, 2020
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: Whole-of-America Response
Attached you will find today’s FEMA Daily Briefing Points for the Whole-of-America response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These briefing points include Topline Messages, as well as Supply Chain Task Force; By the Numbers; FEMA and Department of Health and Human Services Response; and Guidance from Federal Agencies.
Topline messaging includes:
- On April 16, President Trump released Guidelines for Opening Up America Again, providing a plan for rolling back social distancing measures and reopening the country’s economy in several phases, depending on location.
- Vice President Pence spoke with the Nation’s governors on April 24, reinforcing the partnership between the federal and state governments and the continued progress to expand and implement testing to be able to reopen safely and responsibly under the phased approach.
- The federal government will continue to work with governors across the country to ensure they have the equipment, supplies and testing resources.
- On April 26, CDC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released targeted guidance to help meat and poultry processing facilities implement infection control practices to reduce the risk of transmission and illness from COVID-19 in these facilities.
- Meat and poultry processing facilities present unique challenges for the prevention and control of COVID-19 transmission among workers.
- Meat and poultry processing employers should implement a combination of engineering controls, cleaning and disinfection, social distancing, work practice controls, administrative controls, and use of personal protective equipment.
- Basic worker infection prevention information and training should be provided to all workers in a clear and accessible manner, including training on social distancing and ways to reduce the spread of infection. To ensure accessibility, multi-lingual materials should be considered and made available, as appropriate.
- FEMA, HHS and the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA) along with other federal agencies are distributing cloth face coverings as part of a multi-prong approach to re-open American economic activity while continuing to limit spread of COVID-19.
- As of April 26, 32.5 million cloth face coverings are being processed and distributed to state, local, tribal, private sector, and federal entities
- The facial coverings are being delivered in a phased approach for infrastructure workers, first responders and food producers who do not need medical-grade personal protective equipment (PPE) for their daily work. Distribution is based on CISA’s analysis of priority infrastructure sectors.
- The federal government will provide additional face coverings in production to states, territories and tribes for distribution, with priority to emergency services, food production and distribution, and other sectors that support community lifelines.
- FEMA and HHS are also providing face coverings to federal departments and agencies with mission essential functions to promote health and safety in the workplace and in their execution of public-facing missions
- As of April 26, FEMA, HHS, and the private sector combined have coordinated the delivery of or are currently shipping: 74.7 million N95 respirators, 104.8 million surgical masks, 7.2 million face shields, 15 million surgical gowns, 798 million gloves, 10,603 ventilators and 8,450 federal medical station beds.
- The U.S. has now processed 5.2 million samples, which is more total tests than the following nations combined: Australia, Austria, Canada, France, India, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
- States should be making full use of the testing resources available to them, to include leveraging the full capacity available through commercial laboratories in addition to the capability provided through state laboratories.
- HHS and FEMA have expanded items supplied by the International Reagent Resource (IRR) to help public health labs access free diagnostics supplies and reagents.
Contact Us
If you have any questions regarding this FEMA Advisory, please contact FEMA Office of External Affairs, Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Division:
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FEMA Mission
To help people before, during and after disasters.
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