STATES RETHINK BROAD COVID TESTINGFOR KIDS — State leaders and health experts, struggling to keep pace with the Omicron variant, are reconsidering their Covid-19 strategy for kids — favoring fewer tests and contact traces. But that puts states at odds with the White House, where President Joe Biden and administration officials have promoted school "test to stay" programs , POLITICO's Juan Perez Jr. writes. The government said it would start delivering millions of rapid tests to schools this month as part of the program. At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is telling states to narrow requests for rapid tests, focusing on places where quick tests would help students return to school immediately. So some state authorities are rethinking school testing and contract tracing entirely. "Our testing infrastructure was not there; it was broken," Hilario "Larry" Chavez, superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools, said of his decision to close New Mexico's capital city system for several days earlier this month. While falling case counts are starting to bring East Coast states relief from the testing strain, schools elsewhere are still struggling with the Omicron surge, Juan writes. Curtailing school testing, cutting back contact tracing or rationing resources are now in play to free up staff and concentrate on the actively sick. The debate unfolds as the White House encourages schools to layer testing programs atop proven protections: vaccinations, masks, social distancing and ventilation. "Testing of asymptomatic individuals may put a lot of pressure, impose labor shortages and cause disruption in our schools. The main strategy, right now, should really be to manage our hospitals," Chavez said. PROVIDERS COMPLAIN ABOUT STAFFING COSTS AMID SHORTAGE — Hospital and nursing home lobbies last week urged White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients to fight high fees from nursing staff agencies — re-upping a request they've pushed for months. What's happening: Nurses and other health care workers have left the industry in droves during the pandemic, many of them citing low pay, long hours and extreme stress. Providers increasingly rely on staffing agencies to provide contract staff to fill those gaps. But the industry's largest trade groups, the American Hospital Association and the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, argue those agencies are price gouging during a crisis. The groups are "exploiting the severe shortage of health care personnel" during the pandemic "by charging uniformly high prices in a manner that suggests widespread coordination and abuse of market position," the lobbies wrote in a letter to Zients. Those groups argue staffing agencies have inflated costs but pocket most of the fees. Lawmakers in November also sent a letter asking the White House and FTC to probe cost changes. HOW USDA'S VACCINE COMPLIANCE STACKS UP — Agriculture Department staffers across all agencies were between 95 and 100 percent compliant with the federal vaccine mandates by the initial Nov. 8 deadline, according to data requested by POLITICO. Started from the bottom: The agency previously ranked last among federal departments in compliance rate, which includes employees who have received the Covid-19 vaccine or have requested an accommodation, Ximena reports. Why it matters: GOP congressional members have continued to raise concern over the potential decrease in work productivity because of the vaccine mandates, especially across the rural areas that the USDA serves. But the department hasn't removed any nonprobationary permanent employees who are noncompliant with the mandate. "Instead, the department has made concerted efforts to reach out to individuals," a USDA spokesperson told POLITICO. "Those who are requesting accommodations have simply been asked to put a mask on, to socially distance," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a hearing last month. "At the end of the day, the work is getting done."
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