Pic Of The Moment: Trump Tore Up Obama's Pandemic
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Posted On: 05/27/2020 11:59:23 AM
Pic Of The Moment: Trump Tore Up Obama's Pandemic Playbook In 2017 And Replaced It With Nothing
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/26/862018484/trum...c-like-cov
OSHA's infectious disease rule debated in Washington
Castillo said Congress should immediately implement the infectious disease regulations shelved by the Trump administration as an emergency rule before a second wave of the coronavirus hits.
"Which obviously would mandate that employers have the highest level of PPE, not the lowest," she said.
Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a bill in mid-May that would do so, but the Republican-controlled Senate has blocked the measure, and the White House still opposes the rules.
The Trump administration hasn't responded to NPR's repeated inquiries about the infectious disease rule. But in a briefing call with lawmakers this month, the current head of OSHA, Loren Sweatt, argued enough rules are already in place to protect workers.
"We have mandatory standards related to personal protective equipment and bloodborne pathogens and sanitation standards," Sweatt said in a recording provided to NPR. "We have existing standards that can address this area."
The hospital industry also opposes the new safety rules. Nancy Foster with the American Hospital Association said voluntary guidelines for airborne pandemics are adequate.
"You're right; they're not regulations, but they are the guidance that we want to follow," Foster said. "They set forth the expectation for infection control, so in a sense they're just like regulations."
But the infectious disease standard would have required the health care industry to do far more. It sets out specific standards for planning and training. It would also have forced facilities to stockpile personal protective equipment to handle "surges" of sick patients such as the ones seen with COVID-19.
NPR also found the lack of fixed regulations allowed the Trump administration to relax worker safety guidelines. Federal agencies did so repeatedly this spring as COVID-19 spread and shortages of personal protective equipment worsened.
As a consequence, hospitals could say they were meeting federal guidelines while requiring doctors and nurses to reuse masks and protective gowns after exposure to sick patients.
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/26/862018484/trum...c-like-cov
OSHA's infectious disease rule debated in Washington
Castillo said Congress should immediately implement the infectious disease regulations shelved by the Trump administration as an emergency rule before a second wave of the coronavirus hits.
"Which obviously would mandate that employers have the highest level of PPE, not the lowest," she said.
Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a bill in mid-May that would do so, but the Republican-controlled Senate has blocked the measure, and the White House still opposes the rules.
The Trump administration hasn't responded to NPR's repeated inquiries about the infectious disease rule. But in a briefing call with lawmakers this month, the current head of OSHA, Loren Sweatt, argued enough rules are already in place to protect workers.
"We have mandatory standards related to personal protective equipment and bloodborne pathogens and sanitation standards," Sweatt said in a recording provided to NPR. "We have existing standards that can address this area."
The hospital industry also opposes the new safety rules. Nancy Foster with the American Hospital Association said voluntary guidelines for airborne pandemics are adequate.
"You're right; they're not regulations, but they are the guidance that we want to follow," Foster said. "They set forth the expectation for infection control, so in a sense they're just like regulations."
But the infectious disease standard would have required the health care industry to do far more. It sets out specific standards for planning and training. It would also have forced facilities to stockpile personal protective equipment to handle "surges" of sick patients such as the ones seen with COVID-19.
NPR also found the lack of fixed regulations allowed the Trump administration to relax worker safety guidelines. Federal agencies did so repeatedly this spring as COVID-19 spread and shortages of personal protective equipment worsened.
As a consequence, hospitals could say they were meeting federal guidelines while requiring doctors and nurses to reuse masks and protective gowns after exposure to sick patients.
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