text: Prominent Scientists Call on CDC to Better Protect Workers From Covid | The News World Network™
  8:54:13 PM PST - Monday, March 8th, 2021
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  A prominent group of academics is pressing the Biden administration to move faster and take stronger action to protect high-risk workers from airborne exposure to the coronavirus, urging enforceable standards to help safeguard risky workplaces including health care, food processing and prisons. The researchers say that even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has acknowledged the virus can spread through tiny airborne particles, it needs to take "strong immediate" action to update its guidance to reduce the risk. "This is the opportunity now," said David Michaels, a professor at George Washington University and former director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Changes to help drive down the spread of the virus could include broader use of N95 masks in workplaces as well as better ventilation, according to a letter sent Monday to the CDC. High-profile signers include Rick Bright, who was dismissed from the Trump administration after pushing for more careful attention to science; Michael Osterholm, an adviser to the Biden transition team; and Virginia Tech aerosol scientist Linsey Marr. Current CDC guidelines reflect the initial supply chain crisis the country faced, which to a large degree has eased, the letter says