In light of this ruling, CMS has updated its guidance that now applies to facilities in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. These states joined the lawsuit discussed above and their deadline for full compliance was March 15, 2022. The remaining states had until Feb. 28, 2022, as stated in the original CMS ruling, which was published on Nov. 5, 2021. Texas had until March 21, 2022 (https://www.cms.gov/files/document/qso-22-11-all-injunction-lifted.pdf).
As we move on from this historic pandemic ruling, it’s important to continue to understand the urgency of preventing the spread of this deadly virus. At the time of this ruling, as of Jan. 12, 2022, the daily new cases rose 33.2% compared with previous seven-day moving average. From Jan. 5–11, 2022, new hospitalization admissions rose 24.5% compared to the prior seven days. The current death rate is also rising 1.6% compared to the week prior (https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#cases_totaldeaths). As of Feb. 6, 2022, nearly a million people had died. As of Jan. 13, 2022, only 62.8% of the U.S. population had been fully vaccinated (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e2.htm#T1_down). By Dec. 4, 2021, only 25 states were reporting case numbers and deaths based on vaccination status. The CDC reported that 80% of the deaths were among the unvaccinated (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html).
All this means that the pandemic isn’t over. We are all, healthcare worker or not, still at risk.
Dr. Fadel is a current otolaryngology resident at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Penn. He serves as the resident representative for the Legislative Affairs Committee within the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Board of Governors. Dr. Troublefield is a clinical instructor of otolaryngology at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and chair of the Legislative Affairs Committee within the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Board of Governors Executive Committee.