It is critical for schools to open as safely and as soon as possible, and remain open, to achieve the benefits of in-person learning and key support services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools to incorporate the best available evidence at this time.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for bamlanivimab and etesevimab administered together for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 and who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19.
With support from Congress, Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has recently begun working with Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations and U.S. Border Patrol, the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other partners and select vendors on an initiative to test and implement state-of-the-art aerial surveillance technologies, sensors, and capabilities at the northern border.
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigated the conditions leading up to the Camp Fire and meticulously reconstructed the sequence of events describing the first 24 hours of its progression. A new report containing the timeline identifies areas where more research is needed to improve life safety and reduce structural losses. It also offers a detailed look at how a large and deadly fire advances.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has anticipated the possible emergence of coronavirus variants. The FDA has been actively assessing the impact of new strains on authorized products and continues to work with medical product sponsors and international partners to evaluate the impact that each variant may have on effectiveness or utility of authorized medical products.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency jointly announced today that the Integrated Justice Information Systems Institute will spearhead a project to develop interoperability standards for Computer Aided Dispatch systems used by the nation’s public safety agencies.
The Legal Aid Disaster Resource Center (LADRC.org), a national website helping legal aid and other service organizations more effectively meet the civil legal needs of disaster survivors, has officially launched. The website’s goal is to provide trainings on best practices and resources for pro bono and legal aid attorneys and the communities they serve. It will also encourage relationship building to improve disaster preparedness and response.
The FDA has dedicated significant effort over the past several years to establishing both research and regulatory programs for advanced manufacturing, computational modeling, and other emerging technologies. These efforts have led to updated regulatory processes, guidance documents and dozens of peer-reviewed research publications to identify characteristics of advanced manufacturing processes that can provide regulatory evidence of quality, safety, and efficacy.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had a successful year of research and development in the area of detecting and predicting the impact of wildfires and wildfire smoke, continuing improvement to its Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product. The product provides near real-time maps, fire data statistics, and data sets for monitoring wildfire and smoke positions.
When a wildfire, pandemic, or other crises strike, good communication can mean the difference between order and chaos – and, in some cases, life and death. A new tool developed by Sacramento State business professors is designed to help companies, agencies, and nonprofit groups convey information more effectively to their employees, stakeholders, and the public during natural disasters.
