The rapid spread of the coronavirus’ omicron variant has pushed the seven-day average of new daily cases in the United States to 253,245, surpassing the previous high of 248,209 cases on Jan. 12.
The United States recently surpassed 50 million COVID-19 cases and 800,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic,
The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was reported on January 21, 2020. Since then, the country has reported over 54 million cases and 841,698 deaths.
The omicron variant, first identified late last month in southern Africa, has sent infections soaring to levels not seen since last winter, bringing the total number of U.S. coronavirus cases to new record highs.
Many businesses applauded new federal guidance reducing the isolation time for asymptomatic people infected with the coronavirus, but the nation’s largest nursing union predicted that it would increase the spread of the virus.
“It’s only going to lead to more illness, more cases,” said Jean Ross, one of three co-presidents of National Nurses United (NNU).
NNU condemned the Biden administration’s latest moves to rip away protections from health care workers and the public, saying the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) weakening Covid isolation guidelines and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announcing that it will rescind critical Covid protections for health care workers—right when the Omicron variant is exploding across the country during a winter surge–puts countless lives at risk.
“Nurses have fought since day one of this pandemic for protections based on science and the precautionary principle,” said Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, another NNU president. “Our demands included optimal isolation times to prevent further Covid spread and an enforceable OSHA Covid health care industry standard to mandate our profit-driven employers, who would never do it on their own, give us optimal protections at work.”
“Nurses applauded the Biden administration when OSHA issued an emergency temporary Covid standard (ETS) in June of 2021, and now we are dumbfounded and enraged that OSHA is rescinding those protections at the same time that the CDC is weakening isolation guidelines to seven days for health care workers,” said Triunfo-Cortez.
While the CDC claims the “change is motivated by science,” nurses emphasize that the weakened isolation guidelines are motivated by the employers wanting workers back on the clock fast, regardless of whether it’s safe, to maximize their profits.