With Leah Nylen and Alice Miranda Ollstein

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Colorado has so far sidestepped the coronavirus surges hitting its neighbors, despite being one of the earlier states to begin reopening.

House lawmakers will be required to wear masks during committee hearings under new guidance issued by the Capitols attending physician.

The heads of several gig economy companies are calling on Congress to create a one-time special enrollment period.

A message from PhRMA:

Americas biopharmaceutical companies are sharing their knowledge and resources more than ever before to speed up the development of new medicines to fight COVID-19. Theyre working with doctors and hospitals on over 1,100 clinical trials. Because science is how we get back to normal. More.

WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE where NBA players trying to safely resume the season are going to Disney World but, according to the leagues very detailed handbook, their pets will not be joining them.

PULSEs inbox is always pet friendly: send pics and tips to [emailprotected] and [emailprotected].

HOW COLORADO IS GETTING THE REOPENING RIGHT Colorado raised some eyebrows when it became the first Democratic-run state to start lifting its lockdown but a few weeks later, the state is sticking out for all the right reasons.

Colorado has so far avoided the Covid-19 resurgence rippling across the West, thanks in large part to its measured reopening strategy and residents who have largely followed public health officials advice, POLITICOs Dan Goldberg reports.

The states go-slow approach appears to be succeeding. Gov. Jared Polis began reopening the economy in April, but has progressed slowly since then a marked contrast to states like Arizona that sped through their early phases.

Colorado also benefited from its relatively young, healthy population. The state is the least obese in the nation, meaning fewer people have health conditions that make them especially susceptible to the virus. And some health experts think early outbreaks may have scared Coloradans into following recommendations around mask wearing and social distancing.

Polis is still counseling vigilance. Colorado is averaging about 150 new infections a day and new clusters in surrounding states raise the odds of a resurgence. The minute human behavior lapses, this will surge back, Polis said Monday.

CAPITOL DOC ESCALATES HOUSES MASK DEBATE House lawmakers will be required to wear face coverings during committee hearings under new guidance issued by the Capitol physician late on Tuesday.

The change follows complaints from Democrats that several Republicans were not wearing masks in a hearing last week, and a couple days after Rep. Tom Rice disclosed hed contracted Covid-19. Rice had been on the House floor without a mask in late May.

The guidance bars members who refuse to wear a mask. Individual entry will be denied to those House of Representatives limited enclosed spaces where face coverings are required but not used by the individual, Brian Monahan, the Capitol physician, wrote.

A senior Democratic aide told POLITICOs Heather Caygle that the requirement will be enforced by the Sergeant at Arms and that committee chairs will have the option not to recognize lawmakers who fail to follow the rules.

The first test will come today. President Donald Trump and other White House officials have flaunted their own CDCs recommendations that people wear face coverings to prevent coronavirus transmission an attitude many in the GOP have copied and thats helped turn the refusal to wear a mask into a political statement.

The House will have its first opportunity to enforce the new guidance this morning during a Judiciary Committee markup of Democrats police reform bill, H.R. 7120 (116).

FIRST IN PULSE: GIG ECONOMY CEOs CALL FOR SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD The leaders of firms like Postmates, Instacart and DoorDash are asking Congress to create a one-time sign-up period that lasts for at least eight weeks, in a letter shared first with PULSE.

Obama veterans Andy Slavitt, Bob Kocher, Zeke Emanuel and Aneesh Chopra also signed on to the letter. The ideas separately received support from AHIP, but the Trump administration rejected the concept of re-opening HealthCare.gov for sign-ups earlier this year.

As many as 27 million people could be at risk of losing their job-based health insurance given the recent surge in unemployment, per a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis in May. Thats created urgency to get legislation into the next congressional stimulus package.

Its something that I think needs to happen, said Noah Lang, CEO of Stride Health, whos leading the letter to congressional leaders and the Senate HELP committee. Lang noted that states like California that run their own insurance exchanges have already opened Covid-19 special enrollment periods. But if youre in a state that relies on the federally facilitated marketplace, you dont have the same liberty, Lang said.

Lang also said that Stride which serves as an ACA broker is seeing five times the enrollment that it normally would at this time of year, driven by states that set up special enrollment periods.

The number one enrollment reason is Covid-19, he said.

COVID-19 IS KILLING YOUNGER MINORITIES AT DISPROPORTIONATE RATES Black Americans aged 35-44 are dying from coronavirus at nine times the rate of whites a figure that offers the starkest evidence yet of the pandemics disproportionate toll on communities of color.

In a new working paper, Harvard researchers analyzing mortality rates by race/ethnic group and age found massive disparities among younger minority populations when compared to their white counterparts.

Black coronavirus patients 25 to 34 years old had a mortality rate 7.3 times higher than whites. For Latinos in the same age range, the rate was 5.5 times that of whites. The researchers found similar results among Native Americans, where those 25-34 had a rate 7.3 times higher than whites, and those aged 35-44 died at rates more than 8 times higher.

That translates to more than 45,000 years of life lost for black Americans, and 48,204 for Latinos figures that compare to an estimated 33,446 for white coronavirus patients.

SUMMER SNAFU: DC TOSSES COVID TESTS AFTER HEAT EXPOSURE Washington, D.C., threw out just over 400 coronavirus tests collected from a pair of free testing sites last week because the samples were unable to be processed due to heat exposure, the city confirmed to POLITICOs Alice Miranda Ollstein.

The sites were located at Judiciary Square between Capitol Hill and downtown D.C. and across the river in Anacostia. The city will let affected residents cut the line and get re-tested today and Thursday in Judiciary Square, but Anacostia wont have extra hours.

A spokesperson for Washingtons health department said its adding more refrigeration at each testing site to make sure more tests arent compromised in the future.

FIRST IN PULSE: DOJS SILENCE ON TEVA LEADS TO QUESTIONS A progressive watchdog group is raising questions about whether Teva Pharmaceuticals donations of a potential Covid-19 treatment affected discussions with the Justice Department about resolving a criminal probe into generic drug price-fixing.

In a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr on Tuesday, Accountable.US urged the DOJ to reveal whether the White House or other political actors have played a role in its negotiations with Teva, POLITICO's Leah Nylen writes. The Israeli drugmaker has been under investigation by U.S. antitrust prosecutors who allege the company conspired with rivals to fix prices on commonly used drugs, though DOJ has yet to announce charges or a settlement with the company.

Teva was among several drugmakers to donate doses of hydroxychloroquine, a drug President Donald Trump touted as a treatment for Covid-19 but which has shown no clinical benefit. The FDA this week pulled the drug's emergency use authorization.

FIRST IN PULSE: HOSPITAL GROUP SEEKS CHANGES TO EMERGENCY LOAN PROGRAM The Federation of American Hospitals is lobbying Congress to revamp the terms of a Medicare advance payment program, warning that facilities could face steep losses if lawmakers dont intervene before August.

The trade group representing for-profit hospitals launched a website focused on the issue today, highlighting the risk that providers that borrowed money early in the crisis could soon be forced to begin repayment through a garnishing of their Medicare reimbursement even though the pandemic has yet to subside.

FAH is asking Congress to push back the repayment start date into 2021 and waive or limit the interest rate attached to the loans, among a series of other tweaks aimed at easing the potential pressure on hospitals finances.

FDA PULLS ANTIBODY TESTS EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION The agency is citing accuracy concerns in revoking the emergency use authorization for an antibody test made by Chembio, POLITICOs David Lim reports.

That makes it the first coronavirus test of any type to lose its EUA, a decision that came after an independent evaluation found it had a higher than expected rate of false results.

A message from PhRMA:

Americas biopharmaceutical companies are sharing their knowledge and resources more than ever before to speed up the development of new medicines to fight COVID-19. Theyre working with doctors and hospitals on over 1,100 clinical trials.

And theres no slowing down. Americas biopharmaceutical companies will continue working day and night until they beat coronavirus. Because science is how we get back to normal.

See how biopharmaceutical companies are working together to get people what they need during this pandemic.

Wisconsin is seeking permission to offer federal pandemic aid to laid off workers with disabilities an abrupt reversal from its repeated denials of those seeking the benefits, Bram Sable-Smith reports for Wisconsin Watch.

Montgomery, Ala.s city council voted down an ordinance mandating mask wearing despite doctors warnings the areas hospitals could soon be overrun, the Montgomery Advertisers Brad Harper writes.

There is growing consensus around how people tend to catch Covid-19, the Wall Street Journals Daniela Hernandez, Sarah Toy and Betsy McKay report.

One coronavirus transmission risk thats received less attention to date, the New York Times Knvul Sheikh writes: the toilet plume.

Read more from the original source:
How Colorado is getting the reopening right - Politico