What Might Be in a Federal OSHA COVID-19 Standard?
The proposed standard would likely require employers to create a company-specific plan to minimize worker exposure to COVID-19. The rule is expected to mandate mask-wearing, social distancing, hand-washing breaks, and communication procedures for workers during outbreaks. The new standard, which many feel is long overdue, is expected to protect the most at-risk workers.
CDC’s ‘Huge Mistake’: Did Misguided Mask Advice Drive Up COVID Death Toll for Health Workers?
Those performing such “aerosol-generating” procedures, often in an intensive care unit, got the best protective gear even if there wasn’t enough to go around, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. And for anyone else working with COVID patients, until a month ago, a surgical mask was considered sufficient. A new wave of research now shows that several of those procedures were not the most hazardous. Recent studies have determined that a basic cough produces about 20 times more particles than intubation, a procedure one doctor likened to the risk of being next to a nuclear reactor.
Long COVID Alliance Launched to Help Coronavirus ‘Long Haulers’
In a recent study of COVID-19 patients hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infection, functional impairment was found in 53.8% of patients four months after hospital discharge. Long COVID symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, anxiety and depression, cardiac issues, fatigue, deconditioning, and hair loss.
Accidentally Trashed, Thawed, or Expired: Reports of COVID Vaccine Spoilage
The incidents range from 335 discarded doses in Lee County, North Carolina, that were damaged in shipping, to nearly 5,000 doses that went to waste in Tennessee in February, prompting additional federal oversight.
Coronavirus: How RWJBarnabas Health is Administering Monoclonal Antibodies
On November 9, bamlanivimab became the first monoclonal antibody to receive an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The EUA for bamlanivimab marked a milestone in the coronavirus pandemic because the monoclonal antibody became the first medication that could be administered to COVID-19 patients on an outpatient basis.
Reducing Back-End Bottlenecks
Expanding the number of facilities able to vaccinate could work to close coverage gaps. An analysis from the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and the nonprofit West Health Policy Center has found that several states may not have a sufficient number of healthcare facilities in some areas to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to all residents who want it.
Coronavirus: 35% of Survey Respondents Say They Are Unlikely to Get Vaccinated
Vaccination is widely viewed as an end-game stage in the coronavirus pandemic. One of the primary goals of vaccination is to achieve herd immunity—a point at which enough of the country’s population will have immunity to the coronavirus that community spread is unlikely.
How to Treat Coronavirus Patients in Post-ICU Care Clinics
Since June 2020, the ICU Survivor Center at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis has treated about 100 COVID-19 patients who survived ICU-level care. The patients are experiencing a range of symptoms, according to Sikandar Khan, DO, medical director at the ICU Survivor Center and a research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis.
PSQH: The Podcast Episode 23 – The Challenges of COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution
On episode 23 of PSQH: The Podcast, Dr. Kent Locklear, chief medical officer of Lightbeam Health Solutions, talks about the ins and outs of COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Experts Urge More Action, Emergency OSHA Standard on COVID-19
Signers of the letter to the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials included David Michaels, former OSHA administrator under President Barack Obama. The letter’s signers contend that current CDC and OSHA guidance does not adequately address the risk of transmission through inhalation of small airborne particles. Much of the federal guidance still refers to exposure to “respiratory droplets.”