Covid Infections Rise as OSHA Health-Care Inspections, Rule Lag

OSHA inspections of health-care facilities dropped by about 84% so far this year, returning to pre-pandemic levels as Covid-19 hospitalizations tripled over the summer and infections quadrupled among nursing-home workers.

From January through August 2023, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspected 159 nursing homes and 99 hospitals, according to agency data analyzed by Bloomberg Law. In the same period last year, the agency probed 915 nursing homes and 664 hospitals.

The decrease in inspections is compounded by the continued absence of a permanent Covid safety rule for health-care workers that OSHA can enforce. That rule, which has been stalled ...