Healthcare Roundup –House passes $2.2T virus relief bill, U.S. takes over top spot in coronavirus cases  

2.2万亿新冠救助法案 美国 新冠病例
Published on: March 27, 2020
Author: Amy Liu

House passes $2.2T virus relief bill

The House of Representative passes the $2.2T coronavirus relief bill, sending it to President Trump to sign into law.

Trump has promised to sign the legislation “immediately.”

Stocks pare some of the session’s dip, with the Nasdaq off 2.2% vs. -3.9% early in trading, the S&P 500 -2.1% vs. -4.2%, and the Dow -2.3% vs. -4.8%.

The U.S. now has more than 92K coronavirus cases, the most in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

~1,380 deaths in the U.S. are linked to the virus.

House leaders worked to get a majority of members present to block Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) from requesting a traditional recorded vote on the legislation.

A roll call would have delayed the process because only 30 members would have been allowed at a time to keep social distance.

Some House members sat in the gallery usually reserved for the public to increased the distance among them.

U.S. takes over top spot in coronavirus cases

According to John Hopkins Case Tracker, U.S. COVID-19 cases now total 86,012, up 4,230 from yesterday. Fatalities are 1,301 (+255), influenced by the proliferation of testing and more timely and reliable reporting.

China is now #2 with 81,589 (-193) and 3,296 (+5) but it is a virtual certainty that authorities there are underreporting new cases.

Italy: 80,589 (+6,203)/8,215 (+712).

Spain: 64,059 (+7,841)/4,858 (+769).

Germany: 47,373 (+6,788)/285 (+56).

Globally: 553,244 (+60,641)/25,035.

Retailers pitch in to combat coronavirus pandemic

Retailers are attempting to fill a void as hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the U.S. experience shortages of personal protective equipment.

Gap (NYSE:GPS), HanesBrands (NYSE:HBI), Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) and Canada Goose (NYSE:GOOS) are all shifting production lines from making apparel to manufacturing face masks, scrubs and gowns, as well as utilizing connections in their supply chains.

Other companies like Target (NYSE:TGT), Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD) are redirecting supply to frontline healthcare workers.

Sun Pharma donates 2.5M doses of malaria drug for Covid-19

Following Teva’s lead, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (OTCPK:SMPQY) has donated 2.5M doses of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine sulfate for use in the U.S. in the COVID-19 pandemic.

A week ago, Teva announced a donation of 6M doses.

FDA takes additional measures to increase ventilator supply

Aimed at boosting the supply of ventilators to meet COVID-19 demand, the FDA has issued a new Emergency Use Authorization allowing the emergency use (in healthcare settings) of certain ventilators, anesthesia gas machines modified for use as ventilators and positive pressure breathing devices modified for use as ventilators, ventilator tubing connectors and related accessories that meet specified criteria for safety, performance and labeling.

It also issued an EUA for certain imported non-NIOSH-approved respirator face masks.

On March 2, it issued an EUA for certain NIOSH-approved respirator face masks.

NIOSH is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

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