One of the most consistent criticisms of the United States government's response to the pandemic has been what detractors consider its failure to provide sufficient clear, consistent, and trusted information. A lack of guidance on the virus has been a major challenge in particular for workplaces, some of which have struggled to develop or enforce rules to keep employees safe. The highly contagious Delta variant, inconsistent vaccination rates, and partisan squabbles over the virus haven't made the situation any easier.
Businesses' frustration is shared by a group of government officials who, theoretically, could resolve a lot of this confusion: those of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a U.S. Labor Department agency that sets and enforces workplace health and safety standards. As my colleague Julia Zorthian reports, many OSHA officials are frustrated that the Biden Administration didn't consult them before announcing that businesses with more than 100 employees will be required to mandate vaccination or testing for employees, a rule that the agency is expected to enforce.
Some of that frustration has long been simmering. On Biden's second day in office and at the White House's request, OSHA experts prepared a comprehensive 780-page emergency standard to direct workplaces on how to stop the virus' spread, but it was never released. One former OSHA official, Debbie Berkowitz, told Julia that the White House declined to put the rules into place. "I think the administration didn't have the political will to get it done," she said.
Julia reports that OSHA's recommendations clashed with the Biden Administration's narrow focus on vaccination and testing—the former also included mitigation approaches ranging from from mask mandates to indoor ventilation protocols, on top of vaccines and tests. At the time the document was prepared, the public also had little appetite for federal mandates, especially on masking.
Today, businesses are still awaiting OSHA guidance that includes the new Biden Administration rules; some have reached out proactively, but the agency is still working on its report. Meanwhile, some former OSHA officials who spoke with Julia said that agency employees don't feel that the White House is going far enough to keep workplaces safe from outbreaks. Others are relieved that new rules are on the way, even if they may not go far enough. As David Michaels, OSHA's administrator from 2009 to 2017, told Julia, "I'd like to see a stronger regulation, but this is a very good first step."
About 471.8 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this afternoon, of which nearly 390.7 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 55.4% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 232.3 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and nearly 4.8 million people have died. On September 27, there were 469,336 new cases and 7,916 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 4.5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 43.1 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 690,400 people have died. On September 27, there were 185,078 new cases and 2,394 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Sept. 28, 9 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here. Note: The number of new daily cases in Tennessee has dropped significantly in recent days, causing it to appear a shade of dark green that lies beyond the color key.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Pfizer and BioNTech have submitted initial data from their vaccine trial among kids aged 5 to 11 to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the companies announced today, in a step towards emergency use authorization (EUA) for Americans in that age range. In the trial, which included 2,268 participants, the vaccine was determined to be safe and have caused a "robust" immune response. The companies said they plan to file a formal EUA application in the coming weeks.
Americans who have been newly vaccinated since June 1 most often cite the Delta wave and reports of COVID-19 patients in local hospitals as their primary motivator, according to a KFF poll conducted this month. Respectively, 39% and 38% of respondents said those factors were one of the motivating factors for them to get their shots. Meanwhile, about 36% said one reason they got inoculated because they knew someone who had gotten very sick or died from COVID-19, and 35% said a desire to go to a gym, an event or travel was a motivation. Only 19% cited employer mandates as a reason for getting vaccinated.
Japan will end the state of emergency it issued in April this week, the Associated Press reports, and restrictions on restaurants' hours and alcohol sales will be gradually lifted. Cases in Japan surged after Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games in July but have fallen in recent weeks; only 16,643 people in the country of 126 million have tested positive over the past week, down from a high of 157,479 during the week of Aug. 15. The falling case rates were likely driven by rising vaccination; more than 58% of Japan's population is vaccinated, up from about 26% at the beginning of July.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Tara Law and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
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