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Category: National News

  • Updated information on COVID-19

    Updated information on COVID-19

    DENVER (March 5): Today, Gov. Polis and state health officials announced Colorado’s first presumptive positive case of COVID-19, as well as a subsequent second case. Below, find the most recent information on both cases. Updates will also be made available as needed, or on a daily basis, on the Department of Public Health and Environment’s website

    Latest information on Colorado’s first case of COVID-19:

    • Colorado has its first case of COVID-19. The case is considered a “presumptive positive” because testing was conducted at the state level. The case will be sent to the CDC for official confirmation.
    • The state is acting on all “presumptive positive” cases as if they were confirmed because a quick response is essential to minimize the spread of the virus.
    • The patient is an out-of-state visitor to Summit County, a male in his 30s.
    • The patient traveled to Italy in mid-February. An individual who traveled with him on that trip is a known case of positive COVID-19 in another state. Upon returning from Italy, the patient spent time in his home state.
    • He then traveled to Colorado on Feb. 29 via plane. He was asymptomatic when he traveled to Colorado. According to CDC, transmission from asymptomatic people is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
    • The Governor’s Office has been in touch with Denver International Airport (DIA) and has shared the information that we have at this time.
    • The person traveled to Summit County from DIA in a rental vehicle and met with friends. They stayed in a condo in Summit County. 
    • We know that he was there for outdoor recreation and that he skied at Keystone and Vail Mountain Resort.
    • The Governor’s Office notified Vail Resorts late this afternoon which oversees both ski resorts the patient visited. 
    • On March 3, the man developed symptoms and went to  St. Anthony’s Summit Medical Center in Frisco the following day.
    • On March 4, in the afternoon, a specimen was taken to the lab for testing.
    • Today, on March 5, the state lab received a presumptive positive result.
    • For health care reasons, the patient had to be transported to lower altitudes. The patient was discharged and traveled in a private vehicle to Jefferson County wearing a mask.
    • At this time, the patient is now recovering in isolation in Jefferson County.
    • His close contacts in Colorado have received quarantine instructions, and a quarantine order is forthcoming.
    • Public health practitioners are investigating and will attempt to notify anyone else who may have been exposed because of this case, if necessary.

    Latest information on Colorado’s second case of COVID-19: We are gathering information on this case, alongside the local public health agency. Tri-County Health Department will provide greater details as appropriate and available. Tri-County Health Department is leading this case investigation and will send a press release shortly with the most up-to-date information. on the case. This case is also a “presumptive positive” because testing was conducted at the state level. CDC will confirm the test results. 

    • The case is an elderly female Douglas county resident.
    • She returned to Colorado from international travel.
    • She is currently isolated at her home per CDC guidelines.

     

    The department continues to work closely with CDC and public health agencies across the state and is committed to protecting the health and safety of Coloradans. Health officials advise Coloradans to stay informed, take simple disease prevention measures, and prepare. 

     

    • Practice good hygiene. Thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water. In the absence of soap and water, use hand-sanitizer; use a tissue or your elbow or sleeve to cover coughs and sneezes 
    • Stay home if you’re sick; keep your children home if they are sick. Talk to your employer about working from home if necessary.
    • We advise Coloradans to always be prepared for an emergency and have a plan for your family. Coloradans can visit the CDC’s website for more information on how to create a plan.  
    • Stay informed with reliable, up-to-date information. People who have general questions about coronavirus disease 2019, can call CO HELP at 303-389-1687 or 1-877-462-2911 or email  , for answers in English and Spanish (Español), Mandarin (普通话), and more. Coloradans can also visit the CDC and CDPHE websites for more information on best practices.

     

    The state will provide timely updates on any additional cases that test positive at the state lab.

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  • USCIS Launches New Online Form for Reporting Fraud

    WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today launched a new online tip form to help the public provide the agency with information about immigration fraud. The new online form, available on the USCIS public website, prompts the form user for the information that the USCIS’ fraud investigators need to investigate allegations of immigration benefit fraud or abuse.

    “Safeguarding the integrity of our immigration system is top priority for the Trump administration and is central to the agency’s mission,” said Joseph Edlow, the USCIS deputy director for policy. “One way we protect our immigration system is by making it easy for the public to report immigration fraud and abuse. This new online tip form makes fraud reporting more efficient and robust, provides our agency with the information needed to investigate and address abuse of the system, and will help assist our federal partners in prosecuting immigration fraud.” 

    The new online tip form collects information related to the relevant fraud, identifies the type of benefit in question and provides space for the form user to describe the alleged fraud or abuse in additional detail. This online form streamlines fraud reporting by replacing three email boxes USCIS now uses for fraud and abuse reporting. The tip form will make the tip process more effective and efficient. Every day, well-intentioned people try to report immigration fraud or abuse to us, but our own internal procedures did not allow for a consistent and timely way to respond. Some of the allegations are true while others are not, but USCIS needed a better way to collect information and make an assessment. USCIS will work on tips previously submitted by email to completion. It is not necessary to resubmit a tip via the online tip form if you previously submitted it via email. People who submit tips by email after USCIS closes the email boxes will receive a bounce-back message letting them know that USCIS has decommissioned the mailbox and giving them a link to the tip form.   

    The Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) mission is to safeguard the integrity of the nation’s lawful immigration system by leading agency efforts to combat fraud, detect national security and public safety threats, and maximize law enforcement and intelligence community partnerships.

    Visit the USCIS Report Fraud webpage for more information.

    For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis) and LinkedIn (/uscis).

     – USCIS –

     

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  • Colorado has first positive case of COVID-19

    Colorado has first positive case of COVID-19

    The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is reporting that the state laboratory has a positive test result for COVID-19 today. The case presented itself in a male in his 30s, who had contact with a known case of COVID-19. Because the testing was done at the state level, the case is a “presumptive positive” and results will be sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation. To act as swiftly as possible, the state will proceed as if the case is officially confirmed.

    The individual is recovering in isolation in the Denver metro area and will remain isolated until cleared by public health officials. The department is working with the local public health agencies to identify any close contacts who may have been exposed while the person was infectious. Public health practitioners will attempt to contact anyone who may have been exposed and monitor them for signs and symptoms of COVID-19. 

    “We are hopeful that the patient will have a swift recovery,” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “Like other states, we expected to begin seeing cases in Colorado and that is why we have been preparing for the past couple of months, in conjunction with local public health agencies and healthcare partners. Our goals are to protect the public from the disease, get people the care they need, and minimize disruption to daily lives.”

    The department continues to work closely with CDC and public health agencies across the state and is committed to protecting the health and safety of Coloradans.  Health officials advise Coloradans to stay informed, take simple disease prevention measures, and prepare. 

    The state will provide timely updates on any additional cases that test positive at the state lab.

     

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  • On eve of Super Tuesday, study sheds light on how people make choices

    On eve of Super Tuesday, study sheds light on how people make choices

    On Super Tuesday, Democratic voters from Colorado and across the United States will face a serious decision: Sanders or Warren? Biden, Klobuchar or Bloomberg?

    Now, a new study taps into mathematics to probe how people make those kinds of fraught choices—in particular, how hypothetical, and completely rational, individuals might select between two options as they navigate through a noisy social environment.  

    It turns out that not making a choice can sometimes be as revealing as picking a side, report researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Houston. When the people around you are indecisive, for example, that can have a big influence on your own choices. 

    “Say you have a friend who has been a staunch Sanders supporter in the past,” said Zachary Kilpatrick, a coauthor of the new study and an assistant professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics at CU Boulder. “It’s the night before the primary, and they still have not made a decision about who they’re going to vote for. That suggests that they have received some evidence that’s in conflict with voting for Sanders.”

    Kilpatrick will present his team’s results remotely at a meeting of the American Physical Society. (The physical conference has been canceled due to public health concerns).

    His team’s research zeroes in on a major question in a field of study called decision-making theory: How people make choices based both on their own, private research—such as watching televised debates—and through their social interactions—say, checking out their friends’ posts on social media.

    Kilpatrick compared that goal to the classic battle of wits between Vizzini and the Dread Pirate Roberts in the 1987 film The Princess Bride. In that scene, the pirate claims to have poisoned one of two glasses of wine. Vizzini, a scofflaw of supposedly vast intellect, must choose the one he thinks is safe to drink. 

    It gets complicated.

    “What Vizzini says is that he knows what the Dread Pirate Roberts knows that he knows,” Kilpatrick said. “But he takes multiple loops through what we call a ‘common knowledge’ exchange before he makes the decision on the wine glasses.”

    To explore similar kinds of intellectual spirals, Kilpatrick and his colleagues used a series of equations, or mathematical models, to simulate social interactions of varying complexity. Their models didn’t revolve around real-life voters, or even pirates, but “rational agents”—theoretical deciders who always make the right choices based on the evidence available to them. 

    “We’re both watching the same news show, for example, and I look over to you to see if you’ve made a decision or not,” Kilpatrick said. “We have to account for our common knowledge multiple times until we’ve adequately squeezed all of the information that we can out of the fact that you haven’t made a decision yet, and I haven’t made a decision yet.”

    Eventually, it stops. One voter or group of voters in a network might finally receive enough information to feel confident about their choice

    Kilpatrick is quick to note that, of course, no voter is perfectly rational. But scientists can still learn a lot by studying where real-life humans fall in line with what theory suggests they should do—and where they don’t.

    People should also always try to be aware of the baggage that others in their social networks carry, he added. 

    “When we’re determining how political leaders or people in our networks make decisions,” Kilpatrick said, “we should think hard about how those individuals are biased in order to figure out what we should take away from their decisions.”

     

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  • Bennet, Gardner Applaud House Passage of Bill to Install Colorado Artist’s Sculpture Commemorating Women’s Suffrage in Nation’s Capital

    Bennet, Gardner Applaud House Passage of Bill to Install Colorado Artist’s Sculpture Commemorating Women’s Suffrage in Nation’s Capital

    Today, Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D) and Cory Gardner (R) applauded House passage of H.R. 473, legislation to authorize Colorado artist Jane DeDecker to install her Every Word We Utter sculpture in Washington D.C. Introduced by Bennet and Gardner in the Senate and U.S. Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO-2) in the House, the bill would establish the first outdoor monument to commemorate the women’s suffrage movement and would feature Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Stanton Blatch, Sojourner Truth, Alice Paul, and Ida B. Wells.

     “I can’t think of a more fitting way to commemorate 100 years of women’s suffrage than with the first outdoor monument in honor of the suffragists in our nation’s capital. I see the suffragists as founders of our country just as much as the people who wrote the Constitution – they fought for over 50 years to secure the right to vote. They understood that their responsibility as citizens was to strengthen our republic,” said Bennet. “I’m grateful to Congressman Neguse for pushing this bill through the House and I look forward to moving it in the Senate so that we can pay tribute to the women’s suffrage movement accordingly.”

     “Colorado was the first state to approve women’s suffrage by popular referendum, and three women from Colorado were the first women ever elected to any legislature in U.S. history when they were elected to the Colorado House of Representatives,” said Gardner. “I’m proud that our entire congressional delegation is working to establish the first outdoor monument honoring the women’s suffrage movement and the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. I look forward to the day where women from all over the world will be inspired by the sculpture in our nation’s capital honoring the generations of women whose determination guaranteed women the right to vote.”

     The text of the Senate version of the bill is available HERE.

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  • Defendant in 40-year-old murder pleads guilty

    Defendant in 40-year-old murder pleads guilty

    “Guilty.”

    With that one word, the family and friends of a 21-year-old woman killed by a stranger ended 40 years of waiting.

    On Friday, James Curtis Clanton, 62, pleaded guilty to murdering Helene Pruszynski on Jan. 16, 1980. Her body was found in a vacant Douglas County field in what is now Highlands Ranch.

    It took 40 years of persistence by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and advances in technology to identity a suspect in the murder.

    “Because of the unrelenting and outstanding efforts of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and United Data Connect, the resolution of a horrible sexual assault and murder in a desolate part of our county four decades ago ended within 15 minutes inside a courtroom this morning,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “Coloradans should know that having the ability to consider the death penalty on this case helped lead to its resolution. The legislature should think again about taking this tool away from elected prosecutors.”

    Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock was also satisfied with the outcome.

    “While we were prepared to go forward at trial, we are pleased that Mr. Clanton made the decision to plead guilty. I am very proud of all the hard work and dedication that was put into solving this case,” Spurlock said. “We sincerely hope that this brings closure one step closer for Helene’s only surviving sibling as well as the many friends she had.”

    Investigators with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office utilized forensic genealogy and tracked Clanton, who had legally changed his name in the decades since the murder, to Lake Butler, Fla.  They worked closely with the members of the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and other law enforcement partners, including the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit of Chief Deputy District Attorney John Kellner and Senior Deputy District Attorney Chris Wilcox. The partners worked hand-in-hand to bring Clanton to Colorado in December 2019 to face the charges he had evaded for decades.

    Clanton pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder after deliberation.  This is a Class 1 felony that carries a sentence of life imprisonment in the Department of Corrections.  However, due to the laws in place in 1980, Clanton may apply for parole after serving a period of 20 calendar years of his sentence.

    Sentencing is set for April 10 at 2 p.m.

    photo credit: MGN

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  • Colorado lakes, reservoirs remain free of invasive mussels; but more boats found with mussel infestations in 2019

    DENVER, Colo. – More boats requiring decontamination because of infestations of destructive mussels entered Colorado last year than in 2018, but the statewide inspection program coordinated by Colorado Parks and Wildlife again succeeded in keeping invasive mussels out of the state’s lakes and reservoirs.

    While Colorado remains mussel free, CPW officials are concerned that the number of boats entering Colorado that need decontamination continues to increase. CPW will not let down its guard to keep invasive aquatic species out of the state.

    “The Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Aquatic Nuisance Species Program continues to meet the challenge of protecting the state’s water resources and infrastructure from the establishment of Aquatic Nuisance Species,” said Elizabeth Brown, the agency’s invasive species program manager. “Colorado remains free of adult zebra and quagga mussel reproducing populations, while some nearby western states without mandatory inspection programs continue to detect infestations. Colorado has prevented the introduction of this invasive species due to the diligent efforts of watercraft inspection and decontamination, early detection monitoring, education and enforcement efforts.”

    Other western states that have mussel infestations include: Arizona, Utah, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas and California. Where there are infestations, mussels can clog up pipes and important infrastructure, cover docks, shorelines, rocks, any hard surface and can ruin powerboat engines.

    Throughout the state last year, 481,543 boat inspections were conducted, 7,000 more than in 2018. A total of 22,947 boats, 281 with attached mussels, were decontaminated, compared with 19,111 in 2018. Unfortunately, the number of intercepted boats fully infested with mussels increased by 40 percent, from 51 in 2018 to 86 in 2019. In 2017, only 16 mussel-infested boats were intercepted.

    Brown said she’s very concerned about the substantial increase in infested boats entering the state.

    Thanks to CPW’s inspection program, Colorado remains free of invasive aquatic mussels. But the number of boats that require decontamination is increasing.

    “This growth trend is directly related to the growing threat invasive mussels pose to Colorado’s water infrastructure, natural resources and outdoor recreation. Along with work by our partners, CPW’s Invasive Species Program is critical to maintaining opportunities for recreation, preserving natural heritage and protecting water supply and delivery infrastructure for municipal, industrial and agricultural use,” Brown said.

    A fully formed adult zebra or quagga mussel has never been detected in Colorado waters. However, the larval stage of the mussels, known as veligers, were detected as recently as 2017 in Green Mountain Reservoir in Summit County and the reservoir is still considered suspect for quagga mussels. For detection, biologists perform three types of sampling to target the three life stages of mussels. CPW confirms all visual detections with DNA analysis to confirm the genus and species of the mussel. If no additional detections are verified in 2020, Green Mountain Reservoir will be delisted.

    In 2019, crews sampled 179 standing, and four flowing waters statewide for veligers. In addition to the sampling efforts performed by CPW, the National Park Service contributed 38 plankton samples. There were no detections of zebra or quagga mussels in Colorado.

    CPW works in partnership with dozens of other agencies, counties and municipalities throughout the state. Help from the partners is critical in maintaining a mussel-free Colorado, Brown said.

    For more information about CPW’s ANS prevention program, see: https://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/BoatInspection.aspx.

     

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  • Coronavirus Threat Remains Low, Emergency Physicians are Prepared to Protect the Public

    Coronavirus Threat Remains Low, Emergency Physicians are Prepared to Protect the Public

    WASHINGTON, D.C.—Following the announcement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that it has declared the coronavirus a nationwide public health emergency, emergency physicians are taking the threat of an outbreak seriously, but stress that the risk to the broader public remains low.

    “At this time, the risk in the U.S. of contracting coronavirus remains low,” said William Jaquis, MD, FACEP, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). “It is important to understand your risk factors and practice good hygiene.”

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges anyone that has been in the Wuhan, China region within the last two weeks and developed a fever, cough or had trouble breathing to seek medical care.

    Emergency physicians train extensively to help prevent, treat, and mitigate the spread of highly contagious viruses, such as coronavirus, Ebola, and Zika. Emergency departments nationwide have protocols in place to protect the public and work alongside hospitals and health professionals to stop the spread of the virus and report relevant cases to local, state and national health departments.

    “Americans are far more likely to get the flu than the coronavirus, but you protect yourself against both viruses the same way: get the flu shot, wash your hands regularly and cough or sneeze into your arm or a tissue,” said Dr. Jaquis.

    Emergency physicians are regularly updating information for patients at www.emergencyphysicians.org.

    The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is the national medical society representing emergency medicine. Through continuing education, research, public education and advocacy, ACEP advances emergency care on behalf of its 40,000 emergency physician members, and the more than 150 million Americans they treat on an annual basis. For more information, visit www.acep.org and www.emergencyphysicians.org.

     

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  • Bennet Criticizes Trump Administration’s Lack of Seriousness to Secure U.S. Leadership in Artificial Intelligence

    Bennet Criticizes Trump Administration’s Lack of Seriousness to Secure U.S. Leadership in Artificial Intelligence

    Washington, D.C. – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet sent a letter to the Trump administration addressing its inadequate commitment to securing U.S. competiveness in artificial intelligence (AI). Bennet’s letter, addressed to U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios, is in response to the regulatory principles for AI the administration released earlier this month. In the letter, Bennet criticizes the administration’s “light touch” approach and cites its policies with respect to scientific research, education, workforce training, and immigration as damaging to U.S. leadership in AI.

     “U.S. competitiveness in AI is an economic and national security imperative. The administration’s current policies, however, are insufficient to achieve it. The principles released this month reflect an approach from this administration that assumes minimal federal guidance and investment are sufficient to secure U.S. competitiveness in AI,” wrote Bennet. “The administration’s new principles for AI represent little more than gauzy generalities when America’s competitiveness and security demand a comprehensive, forward-looking, and well-resourced approach consistent with our values.”

     Last year, Bennet convened a group of Colorado leaders from a cross-section of industry, higher education, federal research laboratories, and policy to form the Colorado Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Strategy Group. The AI Strategy Group is focused on identifying opportunities for Colorado to harness AI’s potential, identify related challenges, and help shape solutions. Bennet also worked with Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to secure an amendment to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to better understand China’s AI capabilities and the path forward to maintain U.S. superiority in this emerging technology.

     The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

     Dear Mr. Kratsios:

     Earlier this month, the administration released regulatory principles to govern the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the private sector. U.S. competitiveness in AI is an economic and national security imperative. The administration’s current policies, however, are insufficient to achieve it.

     The principles released this month reflect an approach from this administration that assumes minimal federal guidance and investment are sufficient to secure U.S. competitiveness in AI. At first, the administration refused to develop a national strategy for AI, only later reversing course with the “American AI Initiative” Executive Order. Although the proliferation of AI-related efforts across the executive branch, especially in the Departments of Defense and Energy, are welcome, they still lack the long-term vision and resources needed to secure U.S. competitiveness.

     The White House principles are the latest example of this insufficient approach. Although they attempt to provide a national regulatory framework to preempt a patchwork of state and local policies, they are so vaguely constructed that they could perversely increase local regulations, hurting both industry and innovation. At the same time, the principles are so vague as to justify potentially unlimited legal challenges from industry groups while giving the White House an effective veto over any proposed agency regulation. The broad principles also fail to reflect the wide range of AI technologies.

     Although summary principles are necessarily reductive, certain omissions are hard to overlook. The principles make only passing reference to privacy protections. They include just a cursory discussion of Americans’ civil rights. The principles also reference no effort to coordinate AI policy with allies and partners around the world, echoing the administration’s unilateral rejection of the G7’s Global Partnership on AI in 2018. The U.S. cannot lead the world in AI if we do not engage it. Worse, our isolation risks allowing China to set AI standards and norms across the globe for a generation.

     More broadly, it is hard to take seriously the administration’s commitment to U.S. competitiveness in AI when it has proposed sharp cuts to federal investment in science and research. The administration’s budget for 2020 proposed billions in funding cuts for the National Science Foundation (NSF), which would have resulted in thousands fewer grants for vital research. Although the administration has told agencies to prioritize AI research and development, it has failed to set spending targets, establish metrics, or allocate additional funding.

     The administration has also failed to adequately educate our future workforce for success in integrating AI. The National Science & Technology Council released a “Strategy for STEM Education” report calling for a $4 billion investment, but the administration failed to follow-through by pushing for a commensurate budget. Positive steps, such as the 2017 presidential memorandum devoting $200 million in Department of Education funds to STEM and computer science annually, are helpful but still far short of workforce needs. Similarly, although the administration’s renewed focus on computer science education is welcome, what is required is a specific focus on developing AI skills for learners from all stages and backgrounds to ensure the opportunities from AI are broadly shared.

     The administration has also not taken adequate steps to help today’s workers attain stability and mobility as technologies like AI change the nature of work. According to the Brookings Institution, 36 million workers will face high exposure to automation in the coming decades. The successful integration of AI in the workforce requires significant investment in reskilling workers, increasing access to accelerated learning and certifications, and improving alignment between traditional education and employer needs. Although the President signed an executive order in 2017 to “create apprenticeships for millions of our citizens”, not a single one has been created to date.

     Similarly, the administration’s immigration policy is at war with America’s AI needs. Today, foreign nationals comprise more than half of our top AI talent. International students represent nearly four-fifths of our full-time computer science graduates, and immigrants found a quarter of our technology start-ups. Last year, a study by Deloitte projected that we will need 3.5 million STEM jobs by 2025, two million of which will go unfilled in 2025 because of a skilled labor shortage. Despite the clear need, the administration has doubled denial rates for high-skilled, H-1B visas, doubled processing delays for citizenship applications, and ramped up visas fees. The world’s top talent have received the message: the rate of international students enrolling in our colleges and universities has fallen more than 10 percent in recent years. The desire of immigrants to live and work in America is one of our greatest assets in our pursuit of AI leadership, and this administration has taken every opportunity to squander it.

     In this light, the administration’s new principles for AI represent little more than gauzy generalities when America’s competitiveness and security demand a comprehensive, forward-looking, and well-resourced approach consistent with our values.

     I would like the administration to share its specific plans to develop and implement such an approach and to address the other concerns raised here. I appreciate your attention to this matter.

     Sincerely,

     

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  • Bennet, Democratic Senators Press Federal Government for Updates on Novel Coronavirus

    Bennet, Democratic Senators Press Federal Government for Updates on Novel Coronavirus

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and 30 of his Democratic Senate colleagues sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar requesting updates on the administration’s response to the novel coronavirus outbreak and information on the steps being taken to keep families safe.

    In the letter, the senators asked HHS to provide the latest information regarding the severity of the disease, the country’s capacity to diagnose cases, what steps are being taken to prepare U.S. health care workers, what screening systems were in place at U.S. airports, and the status of a novel coronavirus vaccine. The senators also urged the department to continue its robust, scientifically-driven response to the outbreak and asked what steps Congress should take to support their efforts to keep families safe.

    The letter comes on the heels of an announcement from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) which said that two patients under investigation in Colorado have tested negative for the coronavirus and test results for a third patient are pending.  

    “We write to express concern about the rapidly evolving 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), to urge your continued robust and scientifically driven response to the situation, and to assess whether any additional resources or action by Congress are needed at this time. A quick and effective response to the 2019-nCoV requires public health officials around the world work together to share reliable information about the disease and insight into steps taken to prevent, diagnose, and treat it appropriately,” wrote Bennet and the senators.

     Despite the Trump Administration regularly calling for cuts to public health programs, Congress recently passed a budget deal that increased funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Infectious Disease Rapid Response Reserve Fund, which provides the agency with an immediate source of funding to prevent, prepare for, or respond to an infectious disease emergency either at home or abroad.

     In addition to Bennet, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Angus King (I-Maine), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

     The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

     Dear Secretary Azar,

     We write to express concern about the rapidly evolving 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), to urge your continued robust and scientifically driven response to the situation, and to assess whether any additional resources or action by Congress are needed at this time. A quick and effective response to the 2019-nCoV requires public health officials around the world work together to share reliable information about the disease and insight into steps taken to prevent, diagnose, and treat it appropriately.

     Chinese health officials confirmed the first case of 2019-nCoV in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019.[1] Since then, the case count has exploded in China, with nearly 3,000 confirmed cases as of the writing of this letter. At least 80 people have died.[2] Cases have now been confirmed on four continents.[3] On January 21, the first U.S. case was confirmed in Washington state, where state and local public health officials quickly responded with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).[4] A second U.S. case was confirmed in Chicago on January 24.[5] Subsequently, CDC confirmed two cases in California and one in Arizona, bringing the total U.S. case count to five.[6] Airport screening procedures have been put in place to screen all passengers arriving in the U.S. from Wuhan. In Wuhan, and across China, officials have enacted travel restrictions and canceled planned festivals to celebrate the Lunar New Year.[7] Even with these steps, the case count in China is expected to continue to rise, along with additional cases in the U.S. and around the globe. The World Health Organization is monitoring the situation closely, but has determined it is too early to formally designate this as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.[8] A quick, robust, and comprehensive approach to this outbreak is critical, while also remaining aware that, according to CDC, “the immediate health risk from 2019-nCoV to the general American public is considered low at this time.”[9]

    Unfortunately, the 2019-nCoV outbreak follows troubling proposals from the Trump Administration to cut the budgets of core public health programs at home and abroad. Yet, outbreaks like this serve as a solemn reminder of the need for an unwavering commitment to global health security and the need for strong public health programs worldwide.

     We recognize the situation is evolving quickly and appreciate the information you have already provided. We ask you keep us apprised of developments as they occur, including any information related to the following questions:

     1)      What can Congress do to fully support the U.S. Government response to this outbreak?

     2)      How many HHS officials are currently engaged in the 2019-nCoV response domestically and abroad and in what capacities?

     3)      What is HHS’s best current judgment about the clinical severity of this disease? 

     4)      What is the current domestic diagnostic capacity? How many facilities across the country are able to diagnose 2019-nCoV?

     5)      What is currently known about the risk 2019-nCoV poses to health care workers? How is CDC communicating with U.S. health care facilities to ensure providers remain healthy and safe? What additional guidance is being supplied to health care providers?

     6)      How many passengers have been screened by the airport screening procedures that are in place at American airports? How many potential cases have been identified as a result of this screening? Are there any planned changes to airport screening procedures?

     7)      What progress has been made on the development of a 2019-nCoV vaccine?

     Thank you for your attention to this urgent issue.

     Sincerely,

     

     

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