October 6, 2020

Dear Friends,

Early Friday morning, we learned that the President and First Lady were diagnosed with COVID-19. President Trump received excellent care at Walter Reed and was able to safely return to the White House on Monday. I am grateful the President is recovering quickly.

National Updates:
President Trump issued an Executive Order establishing a Coronavirus Mental Health Working Group to better employ existing government resources toward the mental health challenges of this pandemic.

The Food and Drug Administration(FDA) awarded a research contract to the Stanford University School of Medicine to study how COVID-19 affects different systems in the body.

• The FDA issued an emergency use authorization to Quidel for their 15-min point of care test for influenza A, influenza B and COVID-19.

The Internal Revenue Service extended the deadline until November 21, 2020 to register for an economic impact payment.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services emphasized nursing home residents’ right to vote during the pandemic and despite any restrictions nursing homes may have.

The National Institutes for Health, in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, announced six new Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative contracts for scale-up and manufacturing of new COVID-19 testing technologies.

Until next time, this is your doctor’s note.

Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D.