[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 60 (Friday, March 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 17335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06458]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009: Update to
the List of Potentially Life-Threatening Infectious Diseases to Which
Emergency Response Employees May Be Exposed To Include Coronavirus
Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Disease Caused by Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is adding
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), to the List of
Potentially Life-Threatening Infectious Diseases to Which Emergency
Response Employees May be Exposed. The list and companion guidelines
are published by NIOSH pursuant to the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment
Extension Act of 2009. NIOSH encourages medical facilities to review
the agency's guidelines describing the manner in which medical
facilities should make determinations on whether an emergency response
employee was exposed to COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Weiss, Office of the Director,
NIOSH; 1090 Tusculum Avenue, MS:C-48, Cincinnati, OH 45226; telephone
(855) 818-1629 (this is a toll-free number); email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Statutory Authority
The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of
1990 (Pub. L. 101-381) was reauthorized in 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2009.
The most recent reauthorization, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment
Extension Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-87), amended the Public Health
Service Act (PHS Act, 42 U.S.C. 201-300ii) and, pursuant to Section
2695, requires the HHS Secretary to establish the following: A list of
potentially life-threatening infectious diseases, including emerging
infectious diseases, to which emergency response employees (ERE) may be
exposed while responding to emergencies; guidelines describing
circumstances in which EREs may be exposed to these diseases, taking
into account the conditions under which emergency response is provided;
and guidelines describing the manner in which medical facilities should
make determinations about exposures to EREs.
In a Federal Register notice published on July 14, 2010, the HHS
Secretary delegated this responsibility to the CDC Director.\1\ The CDC
Director further assigned the responsibility to the NIOSH Director and
formally re-delegated the authority to develop the list and guidelines
to NIOSH on August 27, 2018.\2\
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\1\ 75 FR 40842.
\2\ 83 FR 50379 (October 4, 2018).
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Addition of COVID-19, the Disease Caused by the Virus SARS-COV-2, to
the List of Potentially Life-Threatening Infectious Diseases to Which
Emergency Response Employees May Be Exposed
The list of potentially life-threatening infectious diseases
maintained by NIOSH is available in a Federal Register notice published
on November 2, 2011 (76 FR 67736), available on the NIOSH website at
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ryanwhite/default.html. With this
notice the NIOSH List of Potentially Life-Threatening Infectious
Diseases to Which Emergency Response Employees May Be Exposed is
updated by the addition of the following:
C. Potentially Life-Threatening Infectious Diseases: Routinely
Transmitted Through Aerosolized Droplet Means
[squf] COVID-19 (the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2)
COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, is being
added to the existing list. COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus
SARS-CoV-2, is a potentially life-threatening emerging infectious
disease that is thought to be spread primarily by respiratory droplets
generated by an infectious person through events such as coughing or
sneezing (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html).
EREs may be exposed to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus
SARS-CoV-2, by a victim of an emergency who may be infected with SARS-
CoV-2 while attending to, treating, assisting, or transporting the
victim to a medical facility. Medical facilities should review the
NIOSH guidelines describing the manner in which medical facilities
should make determinations about exposures to life-threatening
infectious diseases, including COVID-19, available on the NIOSH website
at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ryanwhite/default.html.
John J. Howard,
Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and
Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2020-06458 Filed 3-26-20; 8:45 am]
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