CDC relaxes COVID rules for schools
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated COVID-19 protocols in schools, eliminating a recommendation for test-to-stay after potential exposure.
- The CDC also lifted the requirement to quarantine if exposed to the virus, deemphasizing screening for people with no symptoms.
- The update represents an increasing focus on individuals making their own decisions about their level of risk and how they want to mitigate that risk.
- It also brings the recommendations for unvaccinated people in line with people who are fully vaccinated.
Power costs impacting U.S. industrial market
- Workers at Century Aluminum Co., the second-largest aluminum mill in America, accounting for 20% of U.S. supply, learned they were losing their jobs because the plant can’t afford electricity.
- The electric bill tripled in a matter of months as a result of soaring natural gas and electricity costs.
- A group of factories across the Midwest also told regulators they were on the verge of closing for the summer or longer because of high electricity costs.
- This challenge could create widespread issues across U.S. plants and factories, and it would be a further drag on the economy that is already reeling.
USDA, OSHA reach a formal agreement
- USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and OSHA renewed a cooperative agreement that is critical to the day-to-day oversight.
- The agreement also provides for the operation inspections for meat, poultry, and egg products at the 6,600 establishments that FSIS regulates.
- A new five-year extension of the MOU for public and private food safety employees, including those under regulation, was signed by FSIS and OSHA.
- FSIS and OSHA will coordinate FSIS efforts with workplace hazards and conditions training, which must be completed within 120 days, with annual refresher training.
Reinsurance is critical
- Overall reinsurance has now become a precious commodity within the industry, according to a new report by Aon.
- One of the major focuses for brokers during recent reinsurance renewals was to secure the required capacity they needed.
- Both traditional reinsurance and alternative markets show a reduced desire for wind risk in the southeast U.S. w
- Uncertainty surrounding climate change, real inflation, and social inflation added to the reinsurance markets’ hesitancy to provide more capacity.