Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Free at-home tests and N95 masks are on their way to Americans this week. That’s after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down one COVID-19 vaccine mandate and upheld another.
On Thursday, Jan. 13, the Supreme Court invalidated the Biden Administration’s vaccine-or-test regulation for businesses with 100 or more employees. The vote was six to three.
The majority issued an unsigned opinion, stating, "Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category."
“Today’s ruling reaffirms what we’ve said from the beginning: This misguided vaccine mandate was blatant federal overreach by the Biden administration,” N.D. Governor Doug Burgum said in a statement. “Vaccines and boosters remain the best defense against COVID-19 severe illness, hospitalization and death and are readily available to all North Dakota residents, and we encourage those who haven’t been vaccinated to consult with their trusted medical provider.”
U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer also applauded the decision. “The Biden Administration’s sweeping, nationwide vaccine mandate on businesses is unconstitutional and oversteps their authority. It took the Supreme Court to set the record straight for the Biden Administration, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration,” his statement read, in part.
However, the high court upheld five to four a separate vaccine mandate, this one compelling employers who receive funding through federal Medicare or Medicaid programs to require staff to be vaccinated, affecting an estimated 17 million health care workers.
"The rule thus fits neatly within the language of the statute. After all, ensuring that providers take steps to avoid transmitting a dangerous virus to their patients is consistent with the fundamental principle of the medical profession: first, do no harm," the court wrote in a separate, unsigned opinion. "It would be the very opposite ... for a facility that is supposed to make people well to make them sick with COVID–19," the majority said, noting that in many facilities without a vaccine mandate, "35 per cent or more of staff remain unvaccinated."
Gov. Burgum expressed his disappointment that hospitals and long-term care facilities won’t be allowed to make their own vaccine decisions as private employers.
In the wake of the high court’s actions, President Biden has announced two initiatives to help curb the spread – taxpayer-funded at-home tests and N95 respirator masks.
https://www.covidtests.gov/, and you will be taken to the United States Postal Service website, where you simply fill out the form with your name and address.
“COVID-19 tests will start shipping in late January. USPS will only send one set of four free at-home COVID-19 tests to valid residential addresses,” the website states on the confirmation page.
The White House said Wednesday that 400 million N95 masks would be distributed to pharmacies and community health centers across the country as early as this week. Health officials have said that N95 masks are the most effective against the coronavirus. The CDC now recommends that residents layer a cloth mask over a disposable surgical mask or wear an N95 respirator for adequate protection.
Active cases across the state stood at 9,800 on Friday, Jan. 14 (the day after the Supreme Court ruled), but had retreated to 8,337 by Wednesday. The test positivity rate hovered around 20%.
Locally, case numbers in Eddy County have averaged in the low teens, with nine active cases reported Wednesday. Cases in nearby counties have been markedly higher, with Benson County cases at 39, Wells County 21 and Foster County 26.
There were 1,079 deaths recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020, and 401 North Dakotans died of COVID-19 over the same period in 2021.
Cases of the coronavirus are surging in many parts of the world, as the quickly spreading but less potent Omicron variant dominates. While cases are approaching the levels of last fall’s surge, deaths so far have been lower. Last January, 76 people in North Dakota died with the coronavirus, and as of Jan. 19 there were 29 deaths recorded this month.