By Tim Marema and Bill Bishop

Large swaths of rural America had no Covid-19 infections during the month of May. But other parts of rural America were among the hardest hit and deadliest.

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The ECHO Model for health professions training uses interactive video technology to connect remote providers with specialists at centers of excellence in real-time collaborative sessions.  The Stanford Center for Continuing Medical Education is providing credits for this series of free webinars using the ECHO model to support primary care providers and their patients with diabetes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.  Read more here.

On May 19, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) added two new emergency declaration waivers providing the health care community with flexibilities needed to care for patients during the COVID-19 public health emergency.  First, CMS is waiving certain physical environment requirements under the Medicare conditions of participation for surge capacity and patient quarantine at hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) (page 4).  Second, CMS is modifying the data collection and reporting periods for rural and urban organizations selected to participate in the Ground Ambulance Data Collection System (page 29).

On May 22, the President issued an executive order allowing Federal agencies to address the economic emergency from the COVID-19 pandemic by rescinding, modifying, waiving, or providing exemptions from regulations and other requirements that may inhibit economic recovery, consistent with applicable law and with protection of the public health and safety, with national and homeland security, and with budgetary priorities.  Agencies are also encouraged to promote economic recovery through non-regulatory actions. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has posted information online about recent waivers the agency has implemented, including those applicable to rural facilities like Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, and Federally Qualified Health Centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides objective policy and legal analysis to committees and members of the U.S. House and Senate.  For this report, researchers examine regulatory actions taken by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promote internet connectivity during the pandemic.  Read more here.

CNN reports that as the number of deaths surpasses the grim milestone of 100,000 and Americans squabble over whether it’s necessary or helpful to keep taking protective measures like wearing a face covering, a leading researcher says the data is clear that wearing masks works. Dr. Chris Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, at the University of Washington, says that wearing masks offers probably 50 percent protection against transmission. Unfortunately, what should be influenced by science and shared strategy is instead being influenced by politics resulting in a divided approach. Dr. Anthony Fauci agrees that “simple” things like wearing masks and washing hands are crucial and that close gatherings of people without masks are “very troubling. … That’s really tempting fate and asking for trouble.”