Tag: mask

Categories
Health

U.S. heading for ‘harmful fall’ with surge in delta Covid instances and return of indoor masks mandates

U.S. heading for 'dangerous fall' with surge in delta Covid cases and return of indoor mask mandates

People wearing protective masks shop at a Walmart store in Hallandale Beach, Florida on May 18, 2021.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

With the highly transmittable Delta-Covid variant continuing to spread rapidly in the United States and elsewhere around the world, scientists and other health experts are warning that indoor mask regulations and other public health measures in the US are likely to return this fall.

The country, which just celebrated July 4th with some of its first major gatherings in more than a year, is heading for a “dangerous” fall season, with Delta expected to cause another surge in new coronavirus cases, health experts say. Delta is already the predominant variant in the US and will hit the states with the lowest vaccination rates the hardest – unless those states and companies reintroduce mask rules, capacity limits, and other public health measures, which they largely withdrew in recent months have, say experts.

With new mutations discovered every few weeks, many scientists are now predicting that Covid will circulate around the world for at least the next two to three years, obliging nations to adopt ad hoc public health measures for the foreseeable future. Authorities in Australia, South Africa and Asia recently reinstated curfews or other measures to contain rising delta outbreaks. Japan has just declared a coronavirus emergency in Tokyo and banned spectators from the Olympic Games. High vaccination rates in the US and the warm summer months have bought the country a little more time, but outbreaks around the world are giving Americans a preview of what could come this fall.

Health workers chats near an ambulance in the parking lot of the Steve Biko Academic Hospital amid a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) nationwide lockdown in Pretoria, South Africa, Jan. 11, 2021.

Siphiwe Sibeko | Reuters

“I could foresee that in certain parts of the country mask requirements, distance and occupancy restrictions for indoor areas would be reintroduced in the coming months,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization’s Cooperation Center for National and Global Health Law.

He fears there will be “major outbreaks” in the US this fall, especially in states with low vaccination rates.

“We are heading for a very dangerous fall, with large parts of the country still unvaccinated, a swelling Delta variant and people taking off their masks,” added Gostin.

The warning from scientists and other health professionals comes as many U.S. companies and offices have largely phased out mask requirements, social distancing, and other pandemic-related restrictions.

Almost immediately after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared in mid-May that fully vaccinated people would not need to wear masks in most indoor spaces, Walmart and Costco followed suit, allowing fully vaccinated customers and employees without state or local laws. Similarly, the Detroit automakers and the United Auto Workers union agreed late last month to make face masks optional for fully vaccinated employees.

A General Motors assembly worker loads engine block castings onto the assembly line at the GM Romulus Powertrain plant in Romulus, Michigan, the United States, August 21, 2019.

Rebecca Cook | Reuters

Other companies like Apple and Amazon are urging most of their employees to return to the office in some capacity this fall as more Americans get vaccinated against the virus. Goldman Sachs employees returned to the office last month, while Citigroup and JPMorgan expect their employees to return on a rotation basis this month.

Confirmed Covid infections in the US have dropped to their lowest level since the pandemic began, averaging about 15,000 new cases per day for the past seven days from a high of about 251,000 average new cases per day in January, according to Johns Hopkins University. Hospital stays and deaths have also declined, with Covid deaths averaging around 225 per day – up from a high of an average of more than 3,400 deaths per day in January.

Should daily Covid cases pick up again in the fall, as expected by health professionals, some employers in states with low Covid vaccination rates may face the difficult decision to make public health measures such as wearing masks and social distancing capacities to reintroduce limits or send office workers home entirely.

There will be “two Americas,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and vaccine advocate who served on advisory boards for both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. “There’s vaccinated America and unvaccinated America, and I think unvaccinated America will pay a price for that.”

There are about 1,000 counties in the U.S. with a Covid vaccination rate of less than 30%, mostly located in the Southeast and Midwest, said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky recently. In these areas, the authority already sees increasing infection rates due to the further spread of the delta variant.

This has led some state and local health authorities to reintroduce previously abandoned public health measures.

Patricia Cole receives a shot of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccination from a medical worker at a pop-up clinic operated by the Delta Health Center in that rural Delta community on April 27, 2021 in Hollandale, Mississippi.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

For example, in Mississippi, where less than a third of the state’s eligible population is fully vaccinated, officials last week recommended that all residents continue to wear masks indoors as Delta becomes the predominant variety in the state. About 96% of the new Covid cases in Mississippi are unvaccinated, state health officials said when they called reporters.

White House senior medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said that people in states like Mississippi, where transmission are high and vaccinations are low, may want to consider wearing masks even if they are fully vaccinated.

“Depending on your personal situation, that could be,” said Fauci in an interview that was held on Friday with SiriusXM’s “Doctor Radio Reports” with Dr. Marc Siegel is to be broadcast. “For example, someone who is an elderly person who may not have full robust protection even though the protection is very, very high, or someone with an underlying medical condition,” still wants to wear a mask, he said.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) testifies ahead of a Senate hearing on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to receive an update from federal officials on efforts to fight COVID 19 to be examined in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 11, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Jim Lo Scalzo | Getty Images

Officials in Los Angeles County, California last week also recommended that “everyone, regardless of vaccination status,” wear masks as a precaution in public places indoors.

Offit, who advises the FDA on Covid vaccines, said he expected several more states to reintroduce indoor mask requirements this fall.

The United States is still “undervaccinated” and states with low vaccination rates are likely to be hit the worst, Offit said. Less than half of the United States, about 158 ​​million people, have been fully vaccinated, with more than a dozen states having fully immunized less than 40% of their population, according to CDC data. In Texas, the second most populous state after California, only 42% of residents are fully vaccinated, the data shows.

Even people who are fully protected have cause for concern when it comes to variants of Covid, Offit said. While the vaccines are good at protecting against serious illness and death, they may not protect as well against minor illness or the spread of Covid to others, he said. No vaccine is 100% effective, he noted.

“It is not a bold prediction to believe that SARS-CoV-2 will be circulating in two or three years. I mean, there are 195 countries out there, most of which haven’t received a single dose of vaccine. ”“ Offit said. “Will it still be circulating in the United States? I think that would be very, very likely.”

Dr. Christopher JL Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, agreed that more states will need to re-implement mask mandates this fall. More vulnerable Americans may even have to wear masks every year during the peak covid and flu transmission season: November through April, he said. However, he noted that getting some Americans to wear face covers could be difficult now that the pandemic has subsided.

“Given the pandemic fatigue, getting most Americans to follow guidelines on mask use and social distancing will be more difficult. As cases and hospitalizations pick up again, maybe not until fall or winter, it might be easier to convince some. ” Take steps to be careful, “he said.

People crowd to eat at an outdoor restaurant as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions are eased on April 4, 2021 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.

Emily Elconin | Reuters

Dr. Vin Gupta, a Harvard-trained lung specialist and NBC employee, said mask requirements should be reintroduced this fall, but should be enforced at the local level and with Covid vaccination rates and transmissions depending on events in the surrounding community.

“There has to be some specifics and multiple local jurisdictions have to make their own decisions, especially when the seasons shift and get back into cold, dry air,” he said.

Meanwhile, the federal government’s mask mandate for public transportation, including airplanes, commuter buses, and rail systems, is set to expire on September 13, unless the CDC renews it.

Whether the CDC does this is an open question, scientists said. Walensky and the White House have both advised there is no desire to reinstate the lockdowns and will leave much of the decisions about public health measures to the states.

“A lot of it isn’t science. It’s political science,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto. “If you have a high rate of Covid-19 transmission in the community and you have a high rate of unvaccinated people, then from a scientific point of view it makes sense to mask indoor spaces. Whether or not this will go into policy is another question. “

Categories
Health

For Many Staff, Change in Masks Coverage Is a Nightmare

For Many Workers, Change in Mask Policy Is a Nightmare

“Retailers were asking and requiring you to wear masks,” said Willy Solis, a shopper for the delivery app Shipt in Denton, Texas, who works in stores like Target, Kroger and CVS. “A large majority of people were still doing the right thing and wearing them.”

Since the C.D.C. announcement, however, “it’s been a complete shift,” Mr. Solis said. Denton, like Yorktown, sits in a county that supported former President Donald J. Trump by a single-digit margin in the November election.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 97 percent of Democrats said in a March poll that they wore a mask “at least most of the time” when they might be in contact with people outside their homes, and a similar portion of Democrats said they believed masks limit the spread of coronavirus.

That compared with only 71 percent of Republicans who said they wore a mask outside the home at least most of the time, and just half said they thought masks were effective.

That suggests that a significant number of Republicans have worn masks only to comply with rules, not because they believed it was important, said Ashley Kirzinger, the Kaiser foundation’s associate director for public opinion and survey research. She cited polling showing that Republicans were also less likely to be vaccinated.

Matt Kennon, a room-service server at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Miss., said that before the C.D.C. relaxed its recommendations, the resort’s policy was that all guests must wear masks in common areas unless they were eating, drinking or smoking, and that it was strictly enforced.

“There were several security checkpoints around the place where we’d have someone from security let them know, ‘Please put on a mask,’” said Mr. Kennon, a shop steward with his union, UNITE HERE. “There were stations with disposable masks for guests to wear in case they didn’t have one.”

Categories
Health

U.S. Masks Corporations Battle to Compete with China

U.S. Mask Companies Struggle to Compete with China

In Congress, a bill with bipartisan support would allocate $500 million in annual spending over the next three years to support domestic manufacturers of vital medical equipment.

While industry executives commend these moves, they say that time is running out. The American Mask Manufacturer’s Association, a recently created trade group, said its 27 members had already laid off 50 percent of their work force. Without concerted action from Washington, most of those companies will go belly up within the next two months.

An immediate boost, they say, would be to rescind the C.D.C. guidelines, born during the pandemic, that force health workers to repeatedly reuse N95 masks, even though they are designed to be thrown away after contact with each patient. Many hospitals are still following the guidelines, even though 260 million masks are gathering dust in warehouses across the country.

“We’re not looking for infinite support from the government,” said Lloyd Armbrust, the association’s president and the founder and chief executive of Armbrust American, a mask-making company in Texas. “We need the government’s support right now because unfair pressure from China is going to kill this new industry before the legislators even get a chance to fix the problem.”

The association is planning to file an unfair trade complaint with the World Trade Organization, claiming that much of the protective gear imported from China is selling for less than the cost of production. The price for some Chinese-made surgical masks has recently dropped to as low as 1 cent, compared with about 10 to 15 cents for American masks that use domestically produced raw material.

“This is full-on economic warfare,” said Luis Arguello Jr., vice president of DemeTech, a medical-suture company in Florida that earlier this month laid off 1,500 workers who made surgical masks. He said that in the coming weeks, 500 other workers who make N95 masks would also likely be let go.

“China is on the mission to make sure no one in the industry survives, and so far they’re winning,” Mr. Arguello said.

Categories
Health

CDC masks pointers may improve threat of spreading Covid at work and in public, scientists say

CDC mask guidelines could increase risk of spreading Covid at work and in public, scientists say

People without a mask are walking in Times Square in New York City on May 19, 2021.

John Smith | VIEW press | Corbis News | Getty Images

The CDC’s new mask guidelines could actually increase the risk of Covid-19 spreading in public spaces and workplaces, scientists from a leading group of infectious diseases said Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly reversed their mask guidelines for vaccinated Americans last week to say that vaccinated people will no longer need to wear a mask indoors or outdoors in most settings. Officials said they changed their guidelines in part because research shows the vaccines offer very high levels of protection against the disease of Covid-19 and spread it to others.

“There is no debate about this fact,” said Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, who sits on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, at a news conference hosted Thursday by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. However, the agency’s announcement created widespread confusion and frustration because “it was unexpected and lacked the necessary context for implementation by the state and local health community,” he said.

Duchin is the society’s liaison with the CDC’s Vaccination Committee. The company represents leading specialists in infectious diseases in the USA

“There was no information on how the guidelines could be used in practice, particularly in relation to the inability to check vaccination status,” said Duchin. The CDC also did not provide guidance on whether people should continue to wear masks in areas with high transmission rates or low vaccination rates, he said. “What the CDC did, however, was not optimal and gave the wrong impression that the mask mandates were being lifted.”

Doctors across the country and federal health officials continue to stress that only vaccinated people are safe to remove their masks. The new mask management was misinterpreted as the end of the pandemic and mask mandates, which puts the local health authorities in a very difficult position. States in the United States took the news as a cue to facilitate mask mandates. Texas Governor Greg Abbott used the new guidance to justify signing an executive order that threatens the fine for local officials and communities for not dropping mask requirements.

Duchin said that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people are likely safe outdoors without masks, but they are not indoors.

“Now the risk of Covid-19 spreading in crowded indoor spaces with unvaccinated people and especially with poor ventilation is increased,” said Duchin. While the CDC’s scientific basis for the change is “solid,” Duchin said ending the mandate for inner masks “could lead to increased risk in public spaces and workplaces with avoidable spread of Covid-19, mostly among the unvaccinated spreads. “

Vaccination rates vary across the country, and the majority of those vaccinated are older adults. Large subgroups such as younger adults remain unvaccinated.

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, who also spoke at the briefing, said research has shown that up to 3% of Americans have been told by their doctors that they have some level of immunodeficiency, which puts them at an increased risk of being exposed to Covid be.

“Millions of people fit that bill, and we literally have very little data on whether the vaccine works in them,” Marrazzo said. “There is a real reason to be careful and interpret the guidelines carefully.”

The scientists also said people need to acknowledge that there is uncertainty about the future course of the pandemic, the effects of emerging variants, the duration of immunity, and the potential for a Covid-19 resurgence.

“The Covid-19 outbreak is by no means over, there is still significant uncertainty and there is still significant disease activity,” said Duchin.

If someone is fully vaccinated and doesn’t have other conditions that threaten their community, and if the rate of Covid where they live is relatively low and the vaccination rate is high, Marrazzo said it would be “100% okay, pretty much anywhere without one. ” Mask.”

Marrazzo added that despite being fully vaccinated, she will continue to wear a mask around the house as vaccination rates in her community are not even 50%.

“If I knew we were seeing really notable decreases in hospital stays and symptomatic illnesses that may be related to Covid and that have a very high vaccination rate, I would probably go without a mask, but I won’t see this anytime soon,” she said.

While nearly half of all people in the United States, 160.2 million, received at least one shot, Marrazzo said only 4.6% of the world’s population did the same.

“People need to be aware of what’s going on and watch out for vaccination rates, look for the involvement of these new varieties and think about being ready to get things going again,” warned Marrazzo.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the press conference was hosted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Categories
Business

Starbucks and Different Companies Calm down Masks Insurance policies

Starbucks and Other Businesses Relax Mask Policies

Starbucks has joined a growing list of retailers, restaurants, and theme parks now enabling fully vaccinated customers to go mask-free under the federal government’s new coronavirus safety guidelines.

The company said in a statement that “face covers will be optional for vaccinated customers” starting May 17, subject to local regulations.

[Answers to your questions about vaccines and masks at work]

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surprised many companies when they said vaccinated people could go maskless in most places, including indoors. (The guidelines do not apply to those traveling by bus, plane, train, or other public transport.) For businesses, announcing has been made difficult by the fact that the CDC guidelines do not override state and local regulations. Within a few days, several large companies moved to ease mask requirements. For the most part, companies have not said they need to ask customers to show that they have been vaccinated.

Here you will find the latest information on companies changing their form guidelines.

Costco, which has more than 500 U.S. stores, said it would allow fully vaccinated customers to go mask-free if state and local guidelines allow. The retailer said it would “not require proof of vaccination,” but rather that its customers “work responsibly and respectfully with this revised policy.”

Publix, which has 1,270 grocery stores in the southeast, said “face covers are optional for fully vaccinated people in Publix stores,” subject to local regulations.

Trader Joe’s, who operates 517 grocery stores nationwide, said customers who are fully vaccinated will no longer have to wear masks in their stores. No vaccination certificate will be required “as we trust our customers to follow CDC guidelines,” a spokeswoman, Kenya Friend-Daniel, said in an email. Masks are still required for branch employees.

Walmart said vaccinated customers will be allowed to walk maskless from May 18 in areas with no stricter mandates. A spokesman for the company, which operates more than 4,000 Walmart and nearly 600 Sam’s Club stores in the United States, expects its customers to abide by the honor system. Employees can also be mask-free by answering “yes” to a vaccination question that is part of a daily health assessment.

Walt Disney World Resort in Florida said that as of this weekend, visitors will no longer need to wear masks in most outdoor areas, although masks are still required indoors. Disneyland, California, continues to require indoor and outdoor masks due to government mandates. Disney’s chief executive Bob Chapek said on a earnings call Thursday that the company had begun increasing capacity and that the CDC’s new guidelines are “very big news for us, especially if someone was in Florida in the middle of summer with a mask on . “Around 150 million people visited Disney’s parks in 2019.

Hershey Park in Pennsylvania said it would no longer require masks or social distancing for fully vaccinated guests. The theme park, which attracted 3.4 million visitors in 2019, said it relied on its guests to “closely follow guidelines based on their vaccination status.”

Universal Orlando Resort These masks are no longer needed outdoors, but still have to be used in “all indoor spaces”. The California theme park continues to require masks both outside and inside due to state regulations.

Categories
Business

CDC director defends lifting masks steering for vaccinated

‘We are following the science’

The director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, is seen during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing to discuss the ongoing federal response to COVID-19 on May 11 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. 2021.

Greg Nash | Pool | Reuters

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky last week defended the agency’s decision to lift its mask guidelines for people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as state and local health officials grapple with whether to follow suit.

“This was not permission to take off masks for everyone everywhere. This was a really scientifically motivated, individual assessment of your risk,” Walensky said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday morning.

The Chief Medical Officer of the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci, reiterated the guidance when he appeared on CBS’s “Face The Nation” later that morning.

“There has been an accumulation of data showing the effectiveness of the vaccines in the real world,” said Fauci.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated their guidelines Thursday stating that it is safe for fully vaccinated Americans to remove their masks in most environments, whether they are outdoors or indoors. It is the first time in more than a year that the federal government has endorsed the shedding of masks and marks a major turning point for the pandemic.

“Right now, the data, the science, is showing us that it is safe for people who have been vaccinated to take their mask off. I, as the CDC director, made a promise to the Americans that if I knew I would teach you that science, and that’s what It’s Thursday, “said Walensky.

The agency’s recommendation has been criticized as being too ambiguous or rash. It’s also not mandatory, so states, communities, and corporations can choose whether or not to comply. There is also no definitive way of tracking who received a vaccine, and many places have to work on some kind of honor system.

“We ask people to be honest with themselves,” said Walensky. “If you are vaccinated and you don’t wear a mask, you’re safe. If you’re not vaccinated and you don’t wear a mask, you’re not safe.”

Some states and companies have already decided to keep mask mandates. New Jersey and Hawaii will ask people to continue wearing masks indoors. Some retailers, including Target, Gap, Home Depot, and Ulta Beauty, have also announced that they will be keeping the pandemic logs.

“Elementary workers are still being forced to play masked police for shoppers who are not vaccinated and who refuse to follow local COVID safety measures. Should they become the vaccination police now?” Said Marc Perrone, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Union in a statement shared with CNBC on Friday.

Others have praised the decision, saying it could encourage more people to get vaccinated against the virus as the pace of shots fired has slowed in recent weeks.

Illinois, Connecticut, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Minnesota, Nevada, Kentucky, and Oregon have all said they were relaxing their mask rules. Texas had canceled its mask mandates prior to the CDC’s recommendation.

In addition, officials from New York and California, two of the hardest-hit states, are currently reviewing the CDC’s changes and have not yet issued any guidance as to what means mandates remain.

Fauci said the CDC will come out in the next few weeks and clarify in more detail when masks are appropriate.

As of Friday, more than 156 million Americans had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to the CDC. According to the agency, around 121 million are fully vaccinated.

Categories
Health

Dr. Scott Gottlieb agrees with new CDC masks steerage

Dr. Scott Gottlieb agrees with new CDC mask guidance

The CDC’s updated face mask instructions are likely to induce vaccine-reluctant Americans to get a Covid shot, said Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday.

“This will be a pretty strong incentive for many people who may have been on the fence to get vaccinated to get vaccinated,” the former commissioner for the US Food and Drug Administration told Squawk Box.

In most indoor and outdoor areas, fully vaccinated people are currently not required to wear face covering or maintain a social distance of 6 feet from other people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Masks still need to be worn in businesses that need them, according to the CDC, as well as on airplanes and public transportation.

Still, the health department’s laid-back demeanor is a major development in America’s efforts to fight the coronavirus. According to CDC data, 36% of the US population has been fully vaccinated against Covid. Approximately 47% of Americans have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine.

The pace of new vaccinations has slowed in recent weeks, causing government officials to look for ways to encourage more Americans to sign up for a Covid shot. This includes efforts to build trust in the vaccine, expand availability to hard-to-reach communities, and create incentives. In Ohio, for example, Governor Mike DeWine unveiled a plan that would give five state residents $ 1 million through a lottery. The recipient must be vaccinated to qualify for the prize.

According to Gottlieb, who headed the FDA in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019, the loose guidance from the CDC alone could be enough to boost vaccinations. Today he is a board member of the vaccine manufacturer Pfizer.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the number of people getting vaccinated increases because now there is more value to vaccination. You can walk around in a mask in an honest way,” he said.

Gottlieb acknowledged the concerns of some public health experts who believe that unvaccinated people will use the new CDC guidelines as cover to forego a mask in businesses. However, he said, “I think people who are going to do this would have done it anyway.”

In general, Gottlieb said the CDC’s mask decision is now correct, as the country has seen a continued decline in new coronavirus infections and a significant portion of the population has been vaccinated to protect against serious illness and death.

He specifically pointed out the high vaccination rates among older Americans who are at increased risk of dying from Covid. Almost 72% of America 65+ is fully vaccinated.

“I think the worst thing you can say about the measures taken by the CDC is,” Well, maybe you could have waited another week, “said Gottlieb.” At some point we have to move past coronavirus and live normally again “he added.” We are at this point right now. We’re about to take off masks and return to normal activities. “

Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, told CNBC on Thursday that the new mask line was “really great news” for people who are fully vaccinated. However, Jha said he believes states should keep their inner mask mandates for another month. This would allow people who received their first Covid shot on April 19 – the day all U.S. citizens aged 18 and older were eligible – to get a full vaccination, he said.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, healthcare technology company Aetion, and Illumina biotech. He is also co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean.

Categories
Business

What Do New Masks Guidelines Imply for Firm Vaccine Mandates?

What Do New Mask Rules Mean for Company Vaccine Mandates?

“I don’t know if it will solve that in the long term,” said Mr. Gigante from Proskauer Rose. “But I think that’s what we talk to people and customers about.”

Requiring tests before an employee can come to work does not fully protect other employees from contracting the disease. The accuracy of the tests varies and the results relate only to the time the tests were run. The more frequent the tests, the more informative they are. Mr Gigante said he hears most often from companies that run tests twice a week, although some situations, like a movie set or a courtroom, may require daily testing.

Some companies may not want to bother with the considerations associated with such a program – like the cost, the need to figure out where and how to do the tests, and the headache of keeping track of the results.

“Logistics and cost have made it less likely for employers to rely on them as a route, but as testing becomes more available and cheaper, employers see testing as a good protective layer,” said David Schwartz, who heads the working group at the Skadden, Arps law firm , Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Laura Godfrey in Saugatuck, Michigan, is curious about the relationship between vaccinations and employee health insurance plans. “Companies have focused on wellness to a certain extent,” she writes. “So asking about a vaccine seems sensible.”

“It’s definitely something that a lot of employers are concerned with,” said Emily Zimmer, a partner who specializes in employee benefits at the law firm Troutman Pepper.

This is especially the case with companies with established wellness programs, she said. For example, if a company is already rewarding employees who receive annual flu vaccinations, it will be easier to do the same for employees who are receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.

Categories
Health

Walmart, Costco drop masks requirement for vaccinated clients, workers

Walmart, Costco drop mask requirement for vaccinated customers, employees

Exterior view of a Walmart store on August 23, 2020 in North Bergen, New Jersey. Walmart saw profits jump in the most recent quarter as e-commerce sales soared during the coronavirus pandemic.

VIEW press | Corbis News | Getty Images

Walmart and Costco said Friday that customers who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 are not required to wear a mask in their stores unless required by state or local law.

In a memo sent to employees, the country’s largest retailer and employer announced that the change to its mask policy will take effect immediately in Walmart stores and Sam’s Club members’ warehouse. As of Tuesday, employees who are fully vaccinated will not be required to wear a mask when working in their shops, offices or other facilities.

The memo was from John Furner, CEO of Walmart US; Kath McLay, CEO of Sam’s Club; and Dr. Cheryl Pegus, Walmart’s executive vice president of health and wellness.

According to its website, Costco began allowing fully vaccinated members and guests to enter non-masked jurisdictions without a face mask or face shield on Friday. Face covers are still required in healthcare facilities such as the pharmacy, optical areas, and hearing aid areas of Costco.

New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday said that in most cases, whether indoors or outdoors, fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask or stay 6 feet away from others. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or the single dose from Johnson & Johnson.

Walmart said it offers a monetary incentive and the freedom to work mask-free to vaccinate more employees.

“We encourage all employees to get vaccinated and end this pandemic,” they said in the memo. “Do it for your health, your family, your friends, your community, and your country – let’s help meet our national vaccination goals by July 4th.”

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden set a goal of getting 70% of adults in the United States to get at least one dose of a Covid vaccine by the national holiday. As of Thursday, around 47% of the US population – more than 154 million Americans – had received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the CDC. According to the agency, around 118 million Americans are fully vaccinated.

Walmart executives said in the memo that the retailer “will continue to require unvaccinated customers and members to wear face covers in our stores and clubs.” They said the stores will have updated signs to reflect this new policy. They didn’t say whether or how Walmart will check whether customers are vaccinated or not.

For employees who want to work in a store, distribution center, or other facility without a mask, Walmart will check their status by asking if they have been vaccinated or not. It will be based on the person’s answer of “yes” or “no” in a daily health assessment.

“Integrity is one of our core values, and we trust that employees respect this principle when responding,” the memo reads.

However, in order to receive a vaccine-related bonus, employees must present their original, completed vaccine cards to a store manager or HR manager, according to Walmart. Starting next Tuesday, each person will be entitled to $ 75 “as a thank you for the vaccination.” All U.S. employees below the branch manager level are eligible.

The company is currently evaluating whether certain health and hygienic job codes may still require masks and will be releasing additional guidance shortly. Employees can continue to wear masks as they wish.

Walmart’s policy change is a departure from other major retailers, including Target, Gap, and Ulta Beauty, who have announced plans to maintain pandemic logs. However, Trader Joe’s said customers could shop without a mask if they were fully vaccinated.

Categories
Health

‘CDC’s credibility is eroding’ amid conflicting masks steerage, ex-Obama official says

The CDC should have updated its surface-cleaning guidelines much sooner, Dr. Ashish Jha says

Dr. Kavita Patel criticizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for not effectively updating their guidelines on Covid masks.

“I think the CDC’s credibility is waning as fast as the coronavirus cases,” Patel said on CNBC’s The News with Shepard Smith. “This is not good news because we need guidance in the workplace, we need school counseling.”

“There are men and women working outside on phone lines and power lines on the lines and they still wear masks because we make it up without these instructions,” Patel said. “This actually puts more of us at risk, so it is time to step up. These are the difficult parts of government-public health communication, but we desperately need someone to do this.”

Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins said her confidence in the agency was being undermined by conflicting CDC guidelines.

“I used to have the utmost respect for instructions from the CDC,” Collins said during a congressional hearing on Tuesday’s response to the pandemic. “I’ve always viewed the CDC as the gold standard. I don’t remember.”

The CDC did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Meanwhile, Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has stated that federal mask requirements put fishermen’s work at risk.

“You’re on a boat. The winds are howling. Your mask is damp,” Murkowski said during the hearing. “Tell me how anyone thinks this is a sensible and sensible policy?”

Patel, who served in the Obama administration as political director for the Bureau of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, echoed Murkowski’s concerns.