Healthcare professionals gathered to protest at Rikers Island Prison over conditions and the threat of coronavirus on May 7, 2020, in New York City.
(Giles Clarke/Getty)
A set of regulations intended to enhance the safety of healthcare workers during airborne infectious disease outbreaks was scheduled to be implemented in 2017. However, following Donald Trump’s election, his administration halted the progress initiated by former President Obama, which aimed to establish federal guidelines to prepare the healthcare sector for future pandemics—thereby ensuring hospitals and nursing homes would be better equipped.
David Michaels, who led the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during the Obama administration, emphasized the significance of these regulations: “Had that rule been enacted, every hospital and nursing home would have been required to create plans ensuring they had adequate respirators and preparations for pandemics.” He pointed out that the H1N1 outbreak highlighted the insufficiency of OSHA’s standards for airborne and contact transmission, prompting the need for a new standard.
Currently, there are no regulations to protect healthcare workers from airborne viruses like influenza, tuberculosis, or coronaviruses. The H1N1 crisis led to the deaths of numerous individuals, including nurses who lacked access to essential personal protective equipment (PPE). The COVID-19 pandemic has since wreaked havoc on nursing homes, care facilities, and hospitals treating infected individuals.
During his first year in office, Trump addressed these regulations, which had been set to launch in 2017. “Earlier this year, we targeted zero new regulatory costs for the American economy. Consequently, the relentless increase in red tape has come to a sudden and beautiful halt.” However, just three years later, the ramifications of these deregulations are evident, as frontline workers fall ill and some lose their lives while caring for patients.
“The infectious disease standard has been neglected; work on it ceased,” said Michaels, who now teaches at George Washington University. Bonnie Rivera, head of a national nurses’ union, expressed her sorrow and frustration: “Just months ago, I could never have imagined leading a Zoom call to honor the names of nurses who sacrificed their lives on the front lines of this pandemic. This memorial was not only an expression of grief but also of anger.”
In mid-May, House Democrats passed a bill aimed at reinstating regulations to enhance preparedness in the healthcare industry. However, the Senate blocked this initiative, raising concerns among experts about potential outbreaks later in the year.
The new OSHA head appointed by Trump believes existing protections are sufficient. “We already have mandatory standards concerning personal protective equipment, bloodborne pathogens, and sanitation,” Loren Sweatt explained. “There are existing standards that can address these issues.”
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In summary, the Trump administration’s decision to eliminate safety regulations designed to protect healthcare workers from airborne infectious diseases has raised alarms about the preparedness of hospitals and nursing homes in the face of pandemics. The absence of essential guidelines has led to devastating consequences for frontline workers, with calls for reinstatement of protections continuing to grow.
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