Key Points:
- In today’s Recommendations for Industry, we discuss the current “transition” status of COVID-19, mask mandates, and recommendations. Read more below.
- Is the Coronavirus in Your Backyard?. A study of white-tailed deer killed by hunters or car crashes found more than 60 percent to be infected with COVID-19, showing that deer could become a reservoir for the virus. The virus is likely to continue circulating in deer, many experts predicted. But crucial questions remain unanswered: How are deer catching the virus? How might the pathogen mutate inside its cervid hosts? And could the animals pass it back to us?
- An Omicron subvariant gains in Europe, but is unlikely to alter the picture very much, experts say. A subvariant that scientists believe is even more contagious than the most common form of Omicron is spreading rapidly in parts of Asia and Europe and is now dominant in Denmark, where nearly all COVID restrictions were lifted last week. For now, scientists are not expecting the subvariant, known as BA.2, to do significantly more damage than the version of Omicron that remains dominant in the rest of the world, BA.1. But they are concerned that BA.2 could extend the global Omicron surge.
- Do Not Use E25Bio COVID-19 Tests: FDA Safety Communication. FDA is warning people not to use the E25Bio COVID-19 Direct Antigen Rapid Test, as it has not been authorized, cleared, or approved by the FDA, but may include false labeling representing that the test is authorized by the FDA. The E25Bio COVID-19 Direct Antigen Rapid Test may also be sold under the trade name E25Bio SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Test Kit.
- Global COVID
- China locks down southern city as Omicron variant surges. China has ordered inhabitants of the southern city of Baise to stay home and suspended transportation links amid a surge in COVID-19 cases at least partly linked to the Omicron variant.
- Austria’s sweeping COVID vaccine mandate is becoming law. Austria is the first Western democracy to mandate COVID vaccinations for nearly its entire adult population, a once-unthinkable move that is being seen as a test case for other countries grappling with pockets of vaccine resistance.
- COVID-19 cases climb higher in parts of Asia. Some locations in Asia affected later by the Omicron variant are reporting more daily record highs, even in places like Hong Kong that have taken a more aggressive “zero COVID” approach to battling the virus.
- Governors of four states of the U.S. (Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon) announced plans Monday to lift statewide mask requirements in schools by the end of February or March.
- Medicare will provide free at-home virus tests for pickup. The policy would “allow Medicare beneficiaries to pick up tests at no cost at the point of sale and without needing to be reimbursed,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday, adding that it would be the first time Medicare covered the whole cost of an over-the-counter test.
- Wastewater Monitoring for Public Health. Since September 2020, University of California, Davis, researchers have been monitoring wastewater on the UC Davis campus and in the city of Davis for COVID-19 through the Healthy Davis Together program. A new article published Feb. 8 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reviews their experiences and the advantages and limitations of wastewater testing as a public health tool in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flu:
- Flu cases continue in many parts of the world, but generally COVID is reported more commonly among those with respiratory symptoms.
- US:
- Influenza activity has decreased in recent weeks, but sporadic activity continues across the country. The majority of influenza viruses detected are A(H3N2), most of which are genetically closely related to the vaccine virus.
- Globally, influenza activity remained low and decreased this period after a peak at the end of 2021. With the increasing detections of influenza during the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are recommended to prepare for co-circulation of influenza and SARS-CoV-2, and test and treat according to national guidance.
Recommendations for Industry
COVID Transitional Period Increases Masking Debate
Current trends in the pandemic are showing us to be in a transitional stage through the remainder of February and into the first half of March. At the same time, there is a great deal of dichotomy in government mandates and recommendations both across the U.S. and around the world, as is shown in today’s key points.
A key area of change is that of states beginning to rescind mask mandates in schools. Studies are continuing to show the difficulties that masks add to student learning. And with masks often offering little protection because children don’t always wear them correctly and necessarily remove them to eat lunch, it is seeming more and more pointless to require the masks.
The change is, however, also bringing the masking debate front and center for other facets of life – including that of the workplace. When faced with questions on masking, TAG recommends that businesses consider:
- First and foremost is following your local regulations.
- If no mandates are in place, businesses should consider CDC community transmission guidelines based on level of new cases and percent of positivity to determine need for masking.
- Even if you rescind masking mandates, businesses are advised to maintain a supply of company-provided masks for those who want to wear them.
- Masks that are worn should follow CDC updated guidelines, remembering that “any mask is better than no mask” and people should “wear the most protective mask you can that fits well and that you will wear consistently.”
Additionally, as detailed in last week’s newsletter, masking should be maintained in specific “use-cases,” with employees returning after day 5 of isolation and those opting out of quarantine being good candidates for short term use of an N95 or equivalent mask, as these people are more likely to represent a transmission risk to others.
In case you missed it
- In last Thursday’s Recommendations for Industry, we discussed TAG’s matrix and the current trends of COVID and its variants. Read more here.
- As countries have begun accepting the endemicity of COVID-19 in society and many countries are loosening pandemic protocols, the WHO warns that it is not the time to completely let go of the reins, in fact, it is “premature for any country either to surrender, or to declare victory.” (NYT).
- The FDA is set to meet to discuss Authorization for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children 6 months-4 years on February 15th (FDA). The U.S. Surgeon General pledges that the FDA will review the situation rigorously (NYT).
- A recent study published in Radiology has found that those who are fully vaccinated have less severe breakthrough infections than those who are only partially vaccinated or unvaccinated. In fact, in this study, “mechanical ventilation and in-hosptial deaths” only occurred in those who were unvaccinated. Those who were fully vaccinated had a “significantly lower risk of requiring supplemental oxygen and of [intensive care unit] admission than unvaccinated patients” (CIDRAP).
- While COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are dropping, hospitalizations remain high in those that are unvaccinated (CIDRAP).
- The first human challenge study for COVID-19, conducted out of the Imperial College in London, has shed some light into how SARS-COV-2 works, including that “infection [started] in the throat and peak[ed] in the nose.” To that end, “Rapid tests correlated well for swabs, including in asymptomatic people. However, they were less able to flag lower levels of virus at the start and end of infection” which tracks with how TAG has discussed this, also in our COVID-19 toolkit (CIDRAP).
Public Health:
- The CDC has found that the multi-state Listeria outbreak in Dole pre-packaged salad has now been discovered to be associated with harvesting equipment (CIDRAP).
- For the 6th consecutive year, Tyson Foods has ranked “No. 1 on Fortune magazine’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies in the Food Production category” (Globe News Wire).
- “The FDA expects to complete the rule in November at which time the food industry would have to maintain records that track certain products as they move along the supply chain from growing to receiving to transforming to creating to shipping” as part of its push towards bringing blockchain-based food tracking into existence.
