• In today’s Recommendations for Industry, we discuss the importance of maintaining robust hygiene practices even while reducing other COVID-19 protections. Read more below.
• At this time, OSHA tells employers to follow CDC’s mask guidance. Both National Law Review & JD Supra break down what this means.
• Hospitals in Japan continue to struggle with the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the International Olympic Committee has said that Tokyo Summer Games will continue
• CNN discusses the “black fungus” infections that are also an epidemic in India at this time.
• A new study estimates that COVID-19 may have killed 20% more individuals than currently reported, specifically, “[f]or every 100 deaths attributed to COVID-19, another 20 deaths were ascribed to other causes.”
• CIDRAP reports, “at the G20 Global Health Summit […] world leaders and drug companies announced major commitments to boost the supply of COVID vaccine for low- and middle-income countries, but stopped short of endorsing a full waiver of vaccine patent rights.”
• Food Safety & Public Health:
  • The CDC is urging Americans not to kiss chickens because of Salmonella.
  • There is currently an ongoing Hepatitis A outbreak associated with dates in the United Kingdom that has infected at least 30 individuals.
  • Natural Balance Pet Foods is recalling cat food due to Salmonella concerns.

The Idea of “Respiratory Hygiene” and Maintaining Robust Hygiene Practices Post-COVID

The demasking of America has become a top headline in the news, social media, and general discussion – with both positive and negative perspectives. While we would expect masks to eventually phase out unless we see a resurgence in COVID cases, one area TAG would hope – and recommend – be continued is that of increased hygiene. Related to both the increased handwashing, cleaning that became customary throughout COVID, as well as staying home when ill, particularly with fever or respiratory infections, maintaining the hygiene rules of COVID-19 will help decrease the spread of a wide range of infectious diseases.

 The idea of improving our “respiratory hygiene” will represent an interesting cultural shift in the United States. Previously, working while sick was viewed as a “badge of honor” because some thought it demonstrated commitment to a workplace and colleagues if people continued to work while they were actively symptomatic.   As we emerge from the pandemic, the thought of being at work while actively symptomatic seems, at least for now, socially unacceptable.  We’ve also benefited from cultural shifts in remote and hybrid work that should help symptomatic employees work from home and avoid spreading illness in the workplace.  Cultural practices of mask-usage while symptomatic and in public that are common in Asia may also become more commonplace in the U.S. as well.  Reducing the number of symptomatic and infectious people in the workplace can prevent the spread of COVID and influenza and result in few sick days in the employee population.

As stated in a 2020 study on the Importance of understanding the need of personal hygiene, “Good hygiene is a principal barrier to numerous communicable diseases, which includes the fecal-oral diseases, and which promotes well-being and health.”

Additionally, while the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 COVID-19 variants (those first detected in Britain and South Africa, respectively) have been determined to be more easily transmitted than the original strain, a recent study found that the variants can be just as effectively eliminated by disinfection and thorough hand washing, heat or alcohol treatment. 

Thus, even while businesses are considering when and how to allow for demasking, reiterating, encouraging, and enforcing robust hygiene practices is simply a good business practice for the protection of your workers, customers, and business.

• In Friday’s Recommendations for Industry, we discussed TAG’s recommendation that businesses continue on a slow, deliberate path to “demasking” and the reduction of other COVID-19 protections. Read more here.
• A recent report in Huffington Post found that Google searches for fake COVID-19 vaccination cards spiked after CDC’s new recommendations. NYT explores the “New Honor System On Masks” – what does “trusting” others on their actual vaccination status mean?
• A new type of coronavirus (originating from dogs) has been identified in Malaysia. It further stresses that coronavirus outbreaks are not rare events; in fact, they happen “every decade or so.”
• Researchers have identified that only 12 people, “the Disinformation Dozen,” are behind most vaccine hoaxes on social media, producing up to 65% of the anti-vaccine misinformation share.
• AARP, US News, and Littler are continually updating state-by-state mask guidance’s for every state. If you are wondering what’s happening in your state, check out these links.
• 100M J&J vaccine doses are currently on hold due to potential contamination.
• The CDC expects to have data on COVID-19 vaccines for children <12 and pregnant women by this upcoming fall!
• The WHO Europe has found that the current COVID-19 vaccines appear protective against variants.
• A study shows that vaccinations sharply cuts virus spread in nursing home.
• Doctors and medical professionals in Tokyo are pleading with Olympic Games’ organizers to cancel the Olympics as cases continue to rise in Japan. Additionally, only about 1-2% of the Japanese population is fully vaccinated!
• COVID hotspots continue in Latin America with cases doubling in the last week in Argentina and Uruguay.
• In Wednesday’s Recommendations for Industry, we discussed TAG’s weekly Matrix and what it means to encourage workers to be vaccinated – state by state. Read more here.
• Vaccination rates across the U.S. are uneven and there is increasing evidence that places with lower vaccination rates tend toward higher case rates. [CNN]
• Two studies have been released that explore the disparities of US COVID vaccine distribution.
• CIDRAP reports that while COVID-19 cases are at the lowest rate in a year, hospitalizations among young adults have increased to 36% of all hospitalizations. Additionally, different states are taking different approaches to mask mandates (some allowing no masks for fully vaccinated individuals outdoors only with others still requiring masking).
• The EU says that the Pfizer vaccine can now be stored in the refrigerator (thawed, unopened) for up to a month (instead of the current 5 days).
• One of the researchers that helped developed the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has come out to say that vaccinating children in more affluent nations before vaccinating high-risk individuals in poorer nations is “morally wrong.”
• Food Safety:
  • Scientists at Cornell University have discovered 5 new species of Listeria (one of which is immotile). This will inevitably lead to a “rewrite of the standard identification protocols issued by food safety regulators.” [News Release / Journal Article in Microbiology Research]
  • CDC is currently investigating multiple outbreaks of Salmonella associated with backyard poultry. There have been 163 individuals reported sick in 43 states with 1/3 of the patients under the age of 5.
  • Colorado is investigating a potential norovirus outbreak near Denver.