在最高法院本月早些时候阻止了这些要求后，拜登政府正式撤回了对企业的疫苗和测试授权。 职业安全与健康管理局周二表示，它将在 1 月 26 日星期三取消对企业的规定。最高法院的保守派多数以 6 票对 3 票的决定表示，职业安全与健康管理局超出了其权限。
法院在一份未署名的意见中写道：“尽管国会无可争议地赋予 OSHA 监管职业危险的权力，但它并没有赋予该机构更广泛地监管公共卫生的权力。”
根据已失效的规定，拥有 100 名或更多员工的企业必须确保其员工完全接种疫苗，或者每周提交一次阴性的 Covid 测试才能进入工作场所。它将覆盖大约 8000 万私营部门雇员。
最高法院的决定是对乔·拜登总统控制病毒传播的战略的重大打击。拜登呼吁企业自愿执行这些要求。
劳工部长马蒂·沃尔什 (Marty Walsh) 誓言 OSHA 将利用其现有权力保护工人免受新冠病毒感染。如果雇主未能维持安全的工作场所，OSHA 仍然具有调查和罚款雇主的一般权力。
根据 CNBC 对约翰霍普金斯大学数据的分析，美国报告的 7 天平均每日新增感染病例超过 731,000 例，比上周增加了 4%。尽管新感染病例正在趋于平稳，但它们已停滞在明显高于过去浪潮的水平。
OSHA 周二表示，它将转移资源，专注于为医护人员制定永久性的 Covid 安全标准。该机构去年夏天为该行业发布了临时规则，但在错过了制定永久安全标准的最后期限后于 12 月取消了这些规则。
OSHA 在其紧急授权下发布了医疗保健规则，如果劳工部长发现工人面临严重危险，该机构可以缩短正常流程并发布新的安全标准。然而，OSHA 必须在 6 个月内制定一项永久性法规，以取代它未能做到的临时法规。
医疗保健 Covid 安全标准要求大多数设施提供个人防护设备，在某些区域安装物理屏障，清洁和消毒工作场所，并在许多其他措施中保持适当的通风。
AFL-CIO 和全国护士联合会以及其他劳工组织已要求联邦上诉法院强制 OSHA 恢复对医护人员的安全规定。 OSHA 在一份法庭文件中表示，它无法完成一项针对医疗保健工作者的永久性规则，因为它的资源被用于准备业务授权。
美国各地的医院都在努力应对大量感染高传染性 omicron 变体的患者。根据美国卫生与公众服务部数据的 7 天平均值，美国医院约有 155,000 名新冠患者，高于去年冬天的峰值水平，但比一周前下降了 2.4%。
许多医院都面临人员短缺，因为医疗保健专业人员在感染了 omicron 变体后被迫请病假。
美国急诊医师学院院长 Gillian Schmitz 博士本月早些时候对 CNBC 表示：“全国许多地方甚至连他们的后备人员都生病了。” “现在几乎整个国家都感受到了这种影响人员配备的病例激增。”
Biden administration withdraws Covid vaccine mandate for businesses after losing Supreme Court case
The Biden administration is formally withdrawing its vaccine and testing mandate for businesses, after the Supreme Court blocked the requirements earlier this month.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday said it is pulling the rules for businesses effective Wednesday, Jan. 26. The Supreme Court's conservative majority, in a 6-3 decision, said OSHA had exceeded its authority.
“Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly,” the court wrote in an unsigned opinion.
Under the defunct rules, businesses with 100 or more employees had to ensure their employees were fully vaccinated, or submitted a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. It would have covered some 80 million private-sector employees.
The Supreme Court's decision was a major blow to President Joe Biden's strategy to control the spread of the virus. Biden has called on businesses to voluntarily implement the requirements.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has vowed that OSHA will use its existing powers to protect workers from Covid. OSHA still has general authority to investigate and fine employers if they fail to maintain a safe workplace.
The U.S. reported a seven-day average of more than 731,000 new daily infections, an increase of 4% over last week, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. Though new infections are plateauing, they have stalled at significantly higher levels than past waves.
OSHA on Tuesday said it will shift resources to focus on creating a permanent Covid safety standard for health-care workers. The agency issued temporary rules for the industry last summer, but it pulled them in December after missing a deadline to create a permanent safety standard.
OSHA issued the health-care rules under its emergency authority, which allows the agency to shortcut the normal process and issue a new safety standard if the Labor secretary identifies a grave danger to workers. However, OSHA must develop a permanent regulation in six months to replace the temporary rules, which it failed to do.
The health-care Covid safety standard required most facilities to provide personal protective equipment, install physical barriers in certain areas, clean and disinfect the workplace, and maintain proper ventilation among a number of other measures.
The AFL-CIO and National Nurses United, among other labor groups, have asked a federal appeals court to force OSHA to reinstate the safety rules for health-care workers. OSHA, in a court filing, said it was unable to finish a permanent rule for health-care workers because its resources were tied up preparing the business mandate.
Hospitals around the U.S. are grappling with a surge of patients infected by the highly contagious omicron variant. There are about 155,000 patients in U.S. hospitals with Covid, according to a seven-day average of Dept. of Health and Human Services data, higher than peak levels seen last winter but down 2.4% from one week ago.
Many hospitals are facing staffing shortages as health-care professional are forced to call out sick after getting infected with the omicron variant.
“Many places across the country are getting to the point where even their backup staff are getting sick,” Dr. Gillian Schmitz, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, told CNBC earlier this month. “Pretty much the whole country right now is feeling this surge of cases that is impacting staffing.”
