Following the Supreme Court’s earlier blocking of the requirement, the Biden Administration has officially withdrawn the vaccine mandate and the testing mandate it issued to businesses.

On Tuesday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it will be removing rules for business effective Wednesday 26 January. In a 3-1 decision by the Supreme Court, OSHA was ruled to have exceeded its authority by the conservative majority.

In an unsigned opinion, the court stated that OSHA has been given by Congress the authority to regulate occupational hazards. However, OSHA has not been given the ability to control public health in a more general way.

Businesses with more than 100 employees must ensure that their workers are fully vaccinated or submit a positive Covid test every week to be allowed to work. This would have been applicable to some 80 millions private-sector workers.

President Joe Biden’s strategy of controlling the spread the virus by implementing a plan to curb its spread was undermined by the Supreme Court’s ruling. Biden has asked businesses to comply with the regulations.

Marty Walsh, the Labor Secretary, has stated that OSHA will continue to use existing powers to defend workers from Covid. OSHA retains the authority to probe and punish employers for failing to keep their workplace safe.

According to CNBC’s analysis of Johns Hopkins University data, the U.S. saw a 7-day average of over 731,000 daily infections. This is a 4% increase from last week. Although new infections seem to be slowing down, their levels are still significantly higher than in previous waves.

OSHA said Tuesday it is shifting resources to help create the permanent Covid safety standards for health-care workers. After missing the deadline for a permanent safety rule, OSHA issued temporary guidelines to the sector last summer. However, it withdrew them from its website in December.

OSHA created the health-care regulations under an emergency authority. This allows OSHA to accelerate the process and create a safety standard for workers if there is a serious danger. OSHA failed to create a permanent rule within six months of the expiration date to replace its temporary regulations.

The Covid health safety standard requires that all facilities provide personal protective equipment and place physical barriers in some areas. It also mandates proper ventilation, cleaning and disinfection of the work environment, as well as providing adequate ventilation.

AFL-CIO, National Nurses United and other labor organizations have requested a federal appeals court force OSHA reinstate safety rules for workers in health-care. OSHA claimed in court documents that it couldn’t finish the permanent rule for healthcare workers due to its limited resources.

In the U.S., hospitals are dealing with an influx of highly contagious patients with the omicron variant. According to the seven-day average from Dept. Health and Human Services data. This is greater than peak levels, however it’s down 2.4% from a week ago.

Hospitals are experiencing staff shortages because many hospitals have to admit patients who are infected by the omicron virus.

CNBC reported that “many areas across the country have reached the point where even their back staff are getting sick.” Dr. Gillian Schmitz of the American College of Emergency Physicians stated earlier this month. The surge in patients is having an impact on staffing and is felt across most of the country.