By now, if you are a resident on planet earth, you are well aware of the many new COVID-19 variants that continue to plague our world. The arguments about vaccinations aside, there is an obvious dilemma being faced that is causing serious strains on finances and staffing within businesses, schools, churches, government centers, and literally every organization.
If you own a business, you should also be aware that the mandate from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, for COVID testing of employees was reinstated on December 17, 2021. Because of that, many companies are scrambling to get all of the testing supplies ordered, figure out all the paperwork, determine staffing for the testing times, and just have one more thing to deal with during already tumultuous times.
“COVID-19 is spreading in workplaces, and workers are being hospitalized and dying,” the Justice Department argued in a court filing on Friday. “As COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise and a new variant has emerged, the threat to workers is ongoing and overwhelming.”
The Labor Department on Friday said OSHA will not issue citations for noncompliance with any of the requirements until January 10, 2022, and it will not issue citations for the testing requirements until February 9 so long as businesses are making “good faith” efforts to implement the rules."
According to a report on December 21 from The New York Times, President Joe Biden was quoted as saying that the plan to distribute 500 million rapid Covid-19 tests are "not enough,” Biden said, speaking of the nation’s testing efforts. “We have to do more. We have to do better. And we will.”
During this speech, Biden also talked about his plan to fight the fourth wave of the disease which has caused the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans and over one million worldwide.
“This is not March of 2020,” Biden said. “Two hundred million people are vaccinated. We’re prepared; we know more.”
The Times report also said, "Many experts have called on Biden to be more aggressive about testing. Some European countries have robust, subsidized at-home testing programs. Throughout the pandemic, some of my friends in London have made a free nose swab part of their morning routine before commuting to work."
But what are the mandate rules?
According to cnet.com, "the directives, which require workers at companies with more than 100 employees to either get fully vaccinated or provide negative COVID-19 test results weekly, had been temporarily blocked by a federal appeals panel in Louisiana early in November." The mandate has been reinstated to take effect on January 4, 2022 with regulations that will cover approximately 84 million workers according to a report from a White House briefing.
The following is an expert from the White House briefing.
First, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, is issuing a rule to require employers with 100 or more employees to ensure each of their workers is fully vaccinated or tests negative for COVID at least once a week. This rule covers 84 million employees.
Second, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, is issuing a rule to require that healthcare workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid are fully vaccinated. This rule covers more than 17 million workers at approximately 76,000 healthcare facilities around the country.
And third, to make it easy for businesses and workers to comply, we will be aligning the deadline for the previously announced requirement for employees of federal contractors to be fully vaccinated with these new OSHA and CMS rules. This single, consistent deadline across all three requirements is January 4th, 2022.
How LastGerm can help
WE can help you every step of the way! Our lab partners are currently providing educational institutions, organizations, and businesses with our Free Covid-19 Testing Partnerships. Our solution also comes with personalized software for your leadership team to allow for monitoring your staff and testing results 24 hours after each test. Your leadership POC receives the data at the same time all participating staff gets their results.
Currently - many companies are doing the following to comply with testing:
Find the money in the budget to buy all the necessary testing supplies
Have access to a Doctor that will sign off for the testing (NPI approval #)
Provide trained staff to administer the tests
Provide trained staff to document and file the proper paperwork
Pay for overnight shipping of all the tests to the lab
Organize and provide results to all test takers
Wait 60-90 days for reimbursements from medical insurance or the CARES Act
Included In Our Free Program:
· PCR Test Nasal Swab or Cheek Swab Options – 1 or 2x’s weekly
· HIPAA Compliant Labs (Absolutely No Data Shared Outside your Designee)
· National NPI # validated for staff Doctors
· Paid Overnight Shipping to Our Lab
· All Testing Supplies and Packaging
· Multiple Locations? No problem. We send each one exactly what they need
· Self-administered tests available (Proctor required to observe)
· Software For Monitoring Results
· Fully operational in 5-7 days
· CLIA Certified Lab with Results in 24 hours from being received at the Lab
· Staffing / Mobile Testing available in some areas
· Antigen (rapid response) also available
· No Insurance Required
With our relationships through leading providers and laboratories, we can do this all 100% FREE. No out-of-pocket cost to anyone in your facility -EVER.
This is FREE to your business, church, school, and more.
We would enjoy the opportunity to answer your questions and get you prepared to facilitate this FREE program in your school, office, church, or other high-traffic venues.
You can find out more about the COVID testing on our site.
How else can LastGerm help?
LastGerm prides itself on helping businesses and individuals in any way we can.
We provide a full line of cleaning/sanitizing products that kill 99.99% of germs, bacteria, and microbes.
Two of our signature products are
Two-Step Process using Vital Oxide and BioProtect
Our process stops germs, viruses, mold and more dead in its tracks! If you have questions or want to learn more about free COVID testing, Vital Oxide, or BioProtect Hydrating Hand Sanitizer, contact an agent near you who will be happy to assist you.
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