IDSA Officially Responds to Important COVID-19 Policies and Practices

IDSA expertise continues to help guide the nation’s response to COVID-19. Most recently, IDSA has issued statements on the following key aspects of the response.

Social Distancing: IDSA and HIVMA issued a statement welcoming President Trump’s announcement to amend his projected duration for stay-at-home and physical distancing guidelines to last at least through April. With a letter signed by 60 organizations representing health professionals, patients and advocates along with a petition signed by more than 2,000 individuals to date, IDSA and HIVMA are leading a call for President Trump to ensure his administration’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are based on the most current medical and public health guidance available. The organizational letter and public petition were presented to the president on March 30. We continue to gather signatures on the petition. Please consider adding your name.

Defense Production Act: IDSA, HIVMA, SHEA, PIDS and SIDP called upon the administration to fully utilize the Defense Production Act to address shortages of critical equipment, including personal protective equipment, testing supplies and ventilators.

Testing Prioritization: As IDSA continues advocating for policies and investments to expand testing capacity, we issued recommendations on the prioritization of diagnostic testing to help clinicians make wise decisions with limited availability of tests.

Patient Care: IDSA commended the March 24 Food and Drug Administration policy enabling an emergency investigational pathway for treatment with COVID-19 convalescent plasma for patients suffering severe or life-threatening impacts of the disease.

In an April 1 letter to the Trump administration, IDSA and HIVMA urged the prioritization of social distancing in every state, widespread testing capacity, widespread availability of personal protective equipment and other medical supplies, and a national plan for distributing critical medical supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with transparency in how allocations are made.