Document
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)
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 (H...
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.[]
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.[]
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
▪ 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.