United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) joined Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Congressman Denny Heck (D-WA) in announcing the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act of 2020.

The legislation would establish an Emergency Rental Assistance program to provide $100 billion in emergency rental assistance to help families and individuals pay their rent and remain housed during and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. Stabilizing renters and the rental market through this crisis will help the economy recover from the economic aftershocks of the pandemic.

“Stable housing is a basic need for Americans struggling under the weight of this public health emergency,” said Senator Warren. “I’m glad to partner with my colleagues on a bill to help families and individuals in Massachusetts and across the country pay their rent, utility bills, and remain stably housed during and after this devastating pandemic.”

“This pandemic is yet another painful reminder of just how vulnerable millions of workers are to a single setback – whether it is losing your job, a broken-down car, or just being late on rent,” said Senator Brown. “Congress must act now to keep families in their homes. That’s why I am introducing the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act of 2020 to ensure that renters remain safely and affordably housed during and after this crisis.”

“This legislation would create a $100 billion emergency rental assistance fund to help struggling renters across the nation as well as mom and pop landlords relying on rental payments for their retirement,” said Chairwoman Waters. “We must take immediate action to prevent the COVID-19 crisis from turning into a national eviction crisis. It is absolutely essential for the next COVID-19 relief package to include this bill.”

“Millions of Americans are facing new financial uncertainty, through no fault of their own,” said Congressman Heck. “This bill will help tenants pay their rent, without placing the burden on landlords, many of whom are relying on payments from renters to pay their mortgages. It is vital to our recovery and to the wellbeing of Americans that we do everything we can to keep people in their homes. I will continue working with Chair Waters, Ranking Member Brown, and congressional leadership to ensure we quickly get rent relief to Americans.”

Specifically, the bill would:

– Authorize $100 billion for an Emergency Rental Assistance program to help families and individuals pay their rent and utility bills and remain housed during and after the COVID-19 crisis.
– The program would send funds to communities, states, and tribes through an existing federal temporary rental assistance program to facilitate the rapid distribution of funds through an already-available administrative and reporting system.

The bill is co-sponsored in the Senate by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D-OR), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), and Michael F. Bennet (D-CO).

More information about the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act of 2020 can be found here. The bill has been endorsed by a diverse list of housing, state and local government, child advocacy, faith, health care, women’s, civil rights, disability rights, and social welfare organizations. These groups include the National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Low Income Housing Coalition, Children’s Defense Fund, U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Association of Counties, National Urban League, and National League of Cities.

Senator Warren has made it a priority to ensure families and individuals have access to stable housing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, she sent a letter with Senator Merkley and Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Katie Porter (D-CA) to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development asking for a moratorium on evicting renters during the coronavirus pandemic. She published an op-ed in which she called for a grassroots economic stimulus package that would protect and expand housing, among other measures. Senator Warren has also introduced legislation to protect individuals experiencing homelessness during the pandemic, and has called on Congress to provide $11.5 billion in the next COVID-19 relief package for states and localities responding to the needs of those experiencing homelessness.

Massachusetts Coronavirus Update

On May 10, the Massachusetts Public Health Department reported that the state added 1,050 more positive cases of COVID-19 bringing to total to 77,793. This is a decrease from Saturday’s 1,410 reported cases and a drop for the fourth straight day.

139 new COVID-19 related deaths were reported on Sunday bringing the total deaths in Massachusetts to 4,979. As of 4 pm today, 388,389 people in Massachusetts have been tested for COVID-19 – 11,852 new tests since yesterday.

As of May 5, 32,019 individuals in Massachusetts were subject to quarantine with 22,148 no longer in quarantine. 9,871 individuals are undergoing monitoring/under quarantine.

New Bedford Coronavirus Update

New Bedford officials reported one more COVID-19 related deaths since Friday or 11 deaths since May 2 bringing the total to 30 in the city.

Mayor Jon Mitchell’s office reported 98 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Bedford on Saturday, bringing the total positive cases in the city to 1,042, up from 944 on Friday. New Bedford does not provide COVID-19 statistics on Sundays.

As of Thursday, none of the 26 people who have died from COVID-19 in New Bedford were under 50 years old and 98% of those who have died in Massachusetts have had at least one preexisting health condition. New Bedford’s breakout by age here.

Fall River Coronavirus Update

22 additional cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Fall River. This brings the total in Fall River to 759. Full details here.

Chris Lisinski
State House News Service

Groups that work with domestic violence survivors warned Friday that a federal judge’s order allowing gun retailers to reopen during the pandemic “may further jeopardize the personal safety of victims of abuse.”

In a joint statement, Jane Doe Inc. Executive Director Debra Robbin and Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance Liam Lowney pointed to research in the American Journal of Public Health indicating that women face a 500 percent higher risk of homicide when a gun is present in a domestic violence situation. During the pandemic, with residents urged to remain at home whenever possible and thus facing isolation and stress, risks of domestic violence are higher, they said.

“While these concerns are not new, the compounding stressors brought on by coronavirus add fuel to those fires,” they said. “For people experiencing domestic violence or at risk for committing suicide, more guns in the home at a time of greater isolation and barriers to services can be especially dangerous.” Robbin and Lowney urged the public to be attentive to others’ mental health needs and to check in on friends, family and neighbors.

Massachusetts Coronavirus Update

On May 9, the Massachusetts Public Health Department reported that the state added 1,410 more positive cases of COVID-19 bringing to total to 76,743. This is a decrease from Friday’s 1,612 reported cases.

138 new COVID-19 related deaths were reported on Saturday bringing the total deaths in Massachusetts to 4,840. As of 4 pm today, 376,537 people in Massachusetts have been tested for COVID-19 – 10,514 new tests since yesterday.

As of May 5, 32,019 individuals in Massachusetts were subject to quarantine with 22,148 no longer in quarantine. 9,871 individuals are undergoing monitoring/under quarantine.

New Bedford Coronavirus Update

New Bedford officials reported one more COVID-19 related deaths since yesterday or 11 deaths since last Saturday bringing the total to 30 in the city.

Mayor Jon Mitchell’s office reported 98 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Bedford on Saturday, bringing the total positive cases in the city to 1,042, up from 944 on Friday.

As of Thursday, none of the 26 people who have died from COVID-19 in New Bedford were under 50 years old and 98% of those who have died in Massachusetts have had at least one preexisting health condition. New Bedford’s breakout by age here.

Fall River Coronavirus Update

26 additional cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Fall River for the second straight day. This brings the total in Fall River to 737. The Fall River Health Department is in contact with the individuals who have tested positive as well as their contacts. Full details here.

In partnership with the Mass League of Community Health Centers, the Baker-Polito Administration today announced an upcoming new COVID-19 public awareness campaign, “New Tools, New Rules – Same Great Care.”

Community Health Centers throughout the Commonwealth are open and accepting patients, and this campaign encourages residents to continue to seek care for their medical conditions and reminds individuals not to delay treatment as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

In addition to implementing additional, onsite safety protocols, many Community Health Centers have introduced and expanded telehealth care options. Furthermore, MassHealth contracts with three telehealth providers to offer additional support for members with questions about symptoms that might be related to COVID-19.

Featuring diverse patients with common conditions such as asthma, diabetes and pregnancy, these ads will run for free on WCVB in the Greater Boston area and on WWLP-22News and The CW Springfield in Western Massachusetts.

Digital video advertisements on Facebook will be in English, Spanish and other languages, and will specifically target regions with the highest populations of families in need of services.

Last week, the Baker-Polito Administration announced an expansion of its initiative to boost testing in community health centers across the Commonwealth.

The Baker-Polito Administration will continue to update the public on developments related to COVID-19. Residents can visit www.mass.gov/covid19 for the latest information, call 2-1-1 with questions, and subscribe to text-alerts by texting “COVIDMA” or “COVIDMAESP” (for Spanish alerts) to 888-777.

The following is attributed to FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. and Jeff Shuren, M.D., director of FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 antigen test, a new category of tests for use in the ongoing pandemic. These diagnostic tests quickly detect fragments of proteins found on or within the virus by testing samples collected from the nasal cavity using swabs. The EUA was issued late Friday to Quidel Corporation for the Sofia 2 SARS Antigen FIA. This test is authorized for use in high and moderate complexity laboratories certified by Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), as well as for point-of-care testing by facilities operating under a CLIA Certificate of Waiver.

Diagnostic testing is one of the pillars of our nation’s response to COVID-19 and the FDA continues to take actions to help make these critical products available, including by issuing EUAs. During this pandemic, there have been two types of tests for which the FDA has issued EUAs. One type are polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, a molecular diagnostic testing technique that detects the genetic material from the virus and can help diagnose an active COVID-19 infection. The other type are serological tests that look for antibodies to the virus, which can help identify individuals who have developed an adaptive immune response to the virus, as part of either an active infection or a prior infection (serological, or antibody, tests should not be used to diagnose active infection).

This latest FDA authorization is for an antigen test, which is a new type of diagnostic test designed for rapid detection of the virus that causes COVID-19. Each category of diagnostic test has its own unique role in the fight against this virus. PCR tests can be incredibly accurate, but running the tests and analyzing the results can take time. One of the main advantages of an antigen test is the speed of the test, which can provide results in minutes. However, antigen tests may not detect all active infections, as they do not work the same way as a PCR test. Antigen tests are very specific for the virus, but are not as sensitive as molecular PCR tests. This means that positive results from antigen tests are highly accurate, but there is a higher chance of false negatives, so negative results do not rule out infection. With this in mind, negative results from an antigen test may need to be confirmed with a PCR test prior to making treatment decisions or to prevent the possible spread of the virus due to a false negative.

Antigen tests are also important in the overall response against COVID-19 as they can generally be produced at a lower cost than PCR tests and once multiple manufacturers enter the market, can potentially scale to test millions of Americans per day due to their simpler design, helping our country better identify infection rates closer to real time.

This is just the first antigen test to be authorized and we expect more to follow. We also anticipate providing an EUA template for antigen tests, similar to ones we’ve released for other test types, to help manufacturers streamline submissions and help expedite our review and issuance of additional EUAs.

Antigen tests will play a critical role in the fight against COVID-19 and we will continue to offer support and expertise to help with the development of accurate tests, and to review and monitor marketed tests to ensure accuracy, while balancing the urgent need for these critical diagnostics.

New Bedford officials reported one more COVID-19 related deaths since yesterday or 11 deaths since last Saturday bringing the total to 30 in the city.

Mayor Jon Mitchell’s office reported 98 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Bedford on Saturday, bringing the total positive cases in the city to 1,042, up from 944 on Friday.

As of Thursday, none of the 26 people who have died from COVID-19 in New Bedford were under 50 years old and 98% of those who have died in Massachusetts have had at least one preexisting health condition. New Bedford’s breakout by age here.

26 additional cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Fall River. This brings the total in Fall River to 711. The City was also notified of its twelfth fatality. Full details here.

On May 8, the Massachusetts Public Health Department reported that the state added 1,612 more positive cases of COVID-19 bringing to total to 75,333. This is a decrease from Thursday’s 1,696 reported cases. Full details here.

The numbers that state health officials report each day keep going up and up and up. The number of people tested for the coronavirus, the number of people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the number of people who have been killed by the virus. There’s another number that does not get reported but also keeps rising — the number of people in Massachusetts who have recovered from COVID-19. Full details here.

A federal judge will temporarily lift a Gov. Charlie Baker executive order requiring firearm retailers to close their physical businesses during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Full details here.

Gov. Charlie Baker lifted the ban on golfing in Massachusetts. Full details here.

Massachusetts Coronavirus Update

On May 8, the Massachusetts Public Health Department reported that the state added 1,612 more positive cases of COVID-19 bringing to total to 75,333. This is a decrease from Thursday’s 1,696 reported cases.

150 new COVID-19 related deaths were reported on Friday bringing the total deaths in Massachusetts to 4,702. As of 4 pm today, 366,023 people in Massachusetts have been tested for COVID-19 – 14,391 new tests since yesterday.

As of May 5, 32,019 individuals in Massachusetts were subject to quarantine with 22,148 no longer in quarantine. 9,871 individuals are undergoing monitoring/under quarantine.

A federal judge will temporarily lift a Gov. Charlie Baker executive order requiring firearm retailers to close their physical businesses during the COVID-19 state of emergency. Full details here.

New Bedford Coronavirus Update

New Bedford officials reported three more COVID-19 related deaths since yesterday, six in the past two days or 10 deaths since Saturday bringing the total to 29 in the city. 29% of New Bedford’s COVID-19 related deaths have come in the past six days.

Mayor Jon Mitchell’s office reported 53 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Bedford on Friday, bringing the total positive cases in the city to 944, up from 891 on Thursday.

As of Thursday, none of the 26 people who have died from COVID-19 in New Bedford were under 50 years old and 98% of those who have died in Massachusetts have had at least one preexisting health condition. New Bedford’s breakout by age here.

Fall River Coronavirus Update

26 additional cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Fall River. This brings the total in Fall River to 711. The City was also notified of its twelfth fatality. Full details here.

Colin A. Young
State House News Service

The numbers that state health officials report each day keep going up and up and up. The number of people tested for the coronavirus, the number of people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the number of people who have been killed by the virus. There’s another number that does not get reported but also keeps rising — the number of people in Massachusetts who have recovered from COVID-19.

“People can and do recover, and we need to remember that,” Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel said late last month after she recovered from her own COVID-19 diagnosis and returned to work.

There have been 73,721 cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Massachusetts since Feb. 1. As of Thursday, 4,552 people have died of the disease and another 3,436 people are currently hospitalized with the virus. That leaves 65,733 people who could be sick with the virus but not badly enough to need hospital care, could have been treated at a hospital and released, or could have made a full recovery like Bharel.

A COVID-19 simulator built by Massachusetts General Hospital estimates that the number of active cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts — meaning “anyone who is in the infectious period” — is roughly 6,200. But there is no real way to know for sure yet.

Clinicians in Massachusetts are required to report positive cases of COVID-19, but are not required to report when a patient recovers and the Mass. Department of Public Health does not track the number of recoveries in the state, a DPH spokeswoman said.

Many local boards of health do track the number of COVID-19 recoveries in their own communities. Boston said Thursday that 2,882 of the 10,589 residents who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered. Somerville reported 291 recoveries among 665 positive tests in its city. Framingham reports the total number of cases (1,146 as of Wednesday) and then breaks it down into fatalities (42), recoveries (290) and active cases (814). Pittsfield does the same. Brockton reports the cumulative number of confirmed cases, the number of deaths and the number of active cases, making it easy to determine the number of people who have recovered.

A number of states around the country report statewide recovery numbers daily or weekly, too. But things get murky in the fine print of each state’s report.

“Currently, there are multiple ways for recovered cases to be recorded and several methods are used by different countries and states. Some states and countries measure a case as recovered when a person has had COVID-19 for more than 14 days, while others upon hospital discharge data — neither of which completely capture recovery of the full COVID positive population,” the Florida Department of Health, which like Massachusetts does not report statewide recoveries, said in a statement.

To cut through some of that static, Massachusetts is among a group of states talking with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and each other about coming up with a standardized definition of what it means to have recovered from COVID-19, DPH confirmed to the News Service.

Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services publishes a chart that visually displays the number of cumulative cases along with how many of those are active, how many patients have died and how many people have recovered. The chart shows that while the cumulative number of cases increases, so too does the number of recoveries.

As of Wednesday, Alaska reported that about 78 percent of people who have tested positive in that state have recovered. The state defines a recovered patient as someone “whose symptoms have improved enough to meet the CDC criteria to be released from home isolation, and are no longer considered to be infectious.”

Michigan reports a cumulative number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 infection each Saturday. Last weekend, the state said 15,659 of the 44,397 people who had been diagnosed with the virus had recovered, about 35 percent of all cases.

There, public health officials count as recovered any COVID-19 patient who is still alive 30 days after testing positive for the virus.

On Sunday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted that more people in his state had recovered from COVID-19 than had been newly diagnosed with it over the last two days.

“That’s exactly what we want to see,” the governor wrote. “Texas ranks 3rd highest among states for number of people who have recovered from #coronavirus.”

In Abbott’s state, the Department of State Health Services reports daily on the number of cumulative COVID-19 cases in the state, and estimated numbers of active cases and of patients who have recovered from the virus.

But the fine print on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard reveals that the estimates are “based on several assumptions related to hospitalization rates and recovery times, which were informed by data available to date” and that the estimates “are subject to change as we learn more about COVID-19.” The estimates also do not include any cases reported before March 24.

Tennessee, which got its first COVID-19 case from Massachusetts, reports recoveries and counts in that category “people who (1) have been confirmed to be asymptomatic by their local or regional health department and have completed their required isolation period or (2) are at least 21 days beyond the first test confirming their illness.”

As of Tuesday, Tennessee reported that 6,783 people had recovered from COVID-19, representing about 48 percent of the state’s cumulative cases.

Mississippi public health officials put out a number for “presumed recovered cases,” which is a count of all living COVID-19 patients who were not hospitalized and are 14 days beyond their initial positive test, plus the number of patients who were hospitalized but are 21 days beyond their initial positive test.

In Wyoming, a patient is considered recovered “when there is resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and there is improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath) for 72 hours AND at least 7 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.”

Having a uniform definition of what it means to have recovered from this new virus could play a major role as states reopen their economies and send people back to work. Some have suggested that people who have recovered could return to work sooner or could be asked to take frontline jobs in medicine or retail, if studies show that recovery from COVID-19 comes with some level of immunity from re-infection. But that all hinges on knowing what recovered actually means.

“We’ve asked the CDC this question so we don’t all define it in different ways just based on the state,” North Carolina Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen said in an April 16 news conference. “We’re trying to figure out how we as a country can all define recovery so we have that sort of standardization and not apples to oranges if we define it in different ways.”

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the first diagnostic test with the option of using home-collected saliva samples for COVID-19 testing. Specifically, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory for their COVID-19 laboratory developed test (LDT), which had been previously added to the high complexity molecular-based LDT “umbrella” EUA, to permit testing of samples self-collected by patients at home using the Spectrum Solutions LLC SDNA-1000 Saliva Collection Device. This announcement builds on last month’s EUA for the first diagnostic test with a home-collection option, which uses a sample collected from the patient’s nose with a nasal swab and saline.

“Authorizing additional diagnostic tests with the option of at-home sample collection will continue to increase patient access to testing for COVID-19. This provides an additional option for the easy, safe and convenient collection of samples required for testing without traveling to a doctor’s office, hospital or testing site,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. “We will continue to work around the clock to support the development of accurate and reliable tests, as we have done throughout this pandemic. The FDA has authorized more than 80 COVID-19 tests and adding more options for at-home sample collection is an important advancement in diagnostic testing during this public health emergency.”

Today’s EUA for Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory’s molecular test permits testing of a saliva sample collected from the patient using a designated self-collection kit. Once patients collect their saliva sample, they return it to the Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory in a sealed package for testing.

The Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory test is currently the only authorized COVID-19 diagnostic test that uses saliva samples to test for SARS-CoV-2, the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The test remains prescription only.

Today’s authorization is limited to testing performed at the Rutgers Clinical Genomics Laboratory using their molecular LDT COVID-19 authorized test for saliva specimens collected using the Spectrum Solutions LLC SDNA-1000 Saliva Collection Device. It is important to note that this is not a general authorization for at-home collection of patient samples using other collection methods, saliva collection devices, or tests, or for tests fully conducted at home.