Scientists Call on CDC to Set Air Standards for Workplaces, Now

Many workers vulnerable to infection are people of color, who have borne the brunt of the epidemic in the United States, the experts noted.

Mr. Biden has directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which sets workplace requirements, to issue emergency temporary standards for Covid-19, including those regarding ventilation and masks, by March 15.

But OSHA will only mandate standards that are supported by guidance from the C.D.C., said David Michaels, an epidemiologist at George Washington University and one of the signatories.

(Dr. Michaels led OSHA during the Obama administration; the agency has not had a permanent leader since his departure.)

“Until the C.D.C. makes some changes, OSHA will have difficulty changing the recommendations it puts up because there’s an understanding the government has to be consistent,” Dr. Michaels said. “And C.D.C. has always been seen as the lead agency for infectious disease.”

In an emailed statement, C.D.C. officials emphasized the proper use of cloth and surgical masks to protect against the virus and said that N95 respirators were not recommended for the general public “for reasons supported by science, comfort, costs and practicality.” The statement did not address ventilation in workplaces.

Public health agencies, including the W.H.O., have been slow to acknowledge the importance of aerosols in spreading the coronavirus. It was only in October that the C.D.C. recognized that the virus can sometimes be airborne, after a puzzling sequence of events in which a description of how the virus spreads appeared on the agency’s website, then vanished, then resurfaced two weeks later.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/health/coronavirus-aerosols-workplaces.html