Scientists push Biden administration to require N95 masks in high-risk workplaces

More than a dozen top scientists insist the Biden government needs the N95 air filtration masks for employees at risky workplaces such as meat packaging plants and prisons.

The 13 scientists, including several who advised President Joe Biden during the transition on the pandemic, called on the administration to acknowledge that the virus is more in the air than previously thought, especially with the rise of more contagious variants. The extremely effective masks filter out about 95% of all small particles.

The group, which includes David Michaels, an epidemiologist at George Washington University, who led the Occupational Safety and Health Administration under Obama, also called on OSHA to issue new standards that increase ventilation on high-risk jobs required.

“CDC guidance and recommendations do not contain the necessary controls to protect the public and workers from exposure to SARS-CoV-2 from inhalation,” the authors wrote in a letter to Jeff Zients, Covid-19, on Monday. White House Response Coordinator. The letter was also sent to dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser.

“The failure to address exposure to SARS-CoV-2 by inhalation still poses a serious risk of infection to workers and the public,” the authors continued. “Colored people, many of whom work on the front lines in essential jobs, have suffered the greatest consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic – and continue to do so.”

Federal and international health agencies, including the World Health Organization, have given slow recognition to the evidence that the coronavirus can spread effectively through the air. Only this summer did the WHO recognize that air distribution could not be ruled out just after more than 200 scientists had called on the agency.

The CDC, in turn, has appeared over the past few weeks to recognize the importance of airborne preventive measures, such as stricter appropriate masks for the public. On Friday, the CDC issued new clues for reopening schools, but only downplayed the importance of ventilation, saying schools should, if possible, open windows and doors. Some doctors said they needed to emphasize the importance of portable air filters or improved HVAC systems in schools.

In their letter sent on Monday, the group of scientists set out the evidence of the spread of the virus in the air, pointing to other countries such as Germany and France that recommended higher quality masks for workers and recommended improved indoor ventilation. They said that the current leadership of the CDC and other agencies was ‘outdated’ and that it urgently needed to be updated due to the threat of new, more contagious variants.

Representatives of the CDC did not immediately return CNBC’s request for comment.

The scientists said that the CDC and OSHA should force the use of N95 masks in risky workplaces. Currently, the CDC recommends that most health professionals recommend less effective surgical masks due to the shortage of N95 masks. According to scientists, there is now a greater supply of N95 masks, and it is time for CDC and OSHA to use them in hazardous environments where workers may be exposed to coronavirus aerosols.

On his first full day in office, Biden instructed OSHA to issue emergency standards for Covid-19 by March 15, which would include ventilation and masking rules.

“Stronger safeguards are needed immediately to limit exposure and transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to control and end the COVID-19 pandemic,” the scientists wrote to the government. “Action is needed to better protect workers and the public from inhalation exposure to the virus.”