Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, November 18, 2021
UPSON
BEACON
Page 7A
COVID-19 REPORT
Upson County reports 5,436 positive
COVID-19 cases with 181 deaths as of noon last
Tuesday, according to the Johns Hopkins Uni
versity & Medicine Coronavirus Resource
Center.
Numbers reflect 14 new cases (up from 13
last week) and one new death (down from
four last week) since Tuesday one week
prior. During that time, Upson’s infection rate
remained at 20.7 percent, more than one-in-
five. Pike’s infection rate rose to 21 percent,
highest among neighboring counties, followed
by Lamar at 18.5 percent.
Johns Hopkins lists the following con
firmed cases for counties bordering Upson:
Monroe, 4,250 (up 43) cases with 149 (no
change) deaths; Pike, 3,841 (up 40) with 70
(no change) deaths; Lamar, 3,456 (up 24) with
96 (up four) deaths; Meriwether, 2,987 (up 14)
with 114 (up two) deaths; Taylor, 1,283 (up
nine) with 37 (no change) deaths; Crawford,
1,147 ( U P 14) with 43 (no change) deaths; and
Talbot, 740 (up two) with 27 (no change)
deaths.
Georgia reports 1,649,520 (up 8,484; up
from 4,711 last week) positive cases and 29,871
(up 388; up from 309 last week) deaths with
49.8 percent of population vaccinated.
Upson and Lamar Farmers Place
at 2021 Southeastern Hay Contest
The Upson County
UGA Extension Office
congratulates B and B
Farm Services of Upson
County for receiving
third place in the Cool
Season Perennial Grass
Hay category and
Walters Farms of Lamar
County for receiving first
place in both the Grass
and Legume Baleage cat
egories during the 2021
Southeastern Hay
Contest.
Hailey Partain, exten
sion agent for Upson and
Lamar Counties, re
ceived the Extension
Agent Award for most
samples submitted to the
hay contest with 92 hay
and baleage samples
submitted.
Courtesy of Upson Extension Office
Vaccine
Mandate Protest,
Continued from Front
masks, etc.?” she con
tinued. “The real question
is... where are those
parades now that they are
losing their jobs? We all
need to be standing up for
them.”
Adams clarified her po
sition, saying she is not
anti-vaccination, she is
pro-choice.
“Yes, I know that it is
the government that is re
quiring this mandate, but I
feel like the employer
should be willing to stand
up and push back on behalf
of their employees,” she
stated. This is a real-case
scenario of government
overreach. If they are able
to do this, where does it
end?”
URMC issued a state
ment Monday addressing
the mandate.
“The Centers for Medi
care & Medicaid Services
recently issued a COVID-19
vaccination requirement
that applies to most health
care workers in the United
States. The CMS vaccina
tion requirement is differ
ent and separate from
COVID-19 vaccination
mandates that apply to fed
eral contractors and em
ployers with over 100
employees,” the statement
said. “Under the CMS re
quirement, all eligible staff
and providers at URMC
must be vaccinated against
COVID-19, having received
their first dose by Dec. 6,
2021, and their second
dose (if applicable) by Jan.
4, 2022.”
COVID-19 vaccination
has been a requirement for
all newly hired URMC em
ployees since Aug. 1, 2021,
and for department man
agers since Sept. 15, 2021.
“For decades, there has
been a lengthy list of im
munizations required of all
hospital employees in the
U.S. Vaccination against
COVID-19 is now added to
this list,” URMC Chief Ex
ecutive Officer Jeff Tarrant
said. “We know that vacci
nation of our staff and pro
viders is critical in helping
to protect each other and
protect those we are here to
serve. Now it is also a fed
eral mandate, and failing to
comply would be dis
astrous for URMC.”
Tarrant added that fa
cilities which are not in
compliance with the regu
lation risk loss of funding
and termination from the
Medicare and Medicaid
programs.
“Compliance with this
regulation, or any CMS
regulation, is not optional
for URMC,” Chief Regu
latory Officer Suzanne
Streetman said. “These
regulations are set forth for
the protection of the indi
viduals we serve, and those
we employ.”
Tarrant emphasized
that hospitals are required
to meet the demands of
only one of three man
dates, the CMS mandate.
The other two mandates
are specific to federal con
tractors and large em
ployers (OSHA mandate),
he said.
Gov. Brian P. Kemp and
Attorney General Chris
Carr recently announced
the State of Georgia has
filed a lawsuit challenging
the Biden administration’s
employer vaccine mandate.
The Emergency Temporary
Standard setting forth the
mandate was published in
the Federal Register on
Nov. 5, 2021.
"In addition to vilifying
Americans for their per
sonal choices, Joe Biden's
vaccine mandates are un
lawful and a recipe for eco
nomic disaster," said Gov.
Kemp. "With inflation sky
rocketing, the supply chain
screeching to a halt, and
job creators across the
country desperately
searching for more
workers, Biden is pouring
gasoline on a fire. This fed
eral government power-
grab defies reason, and
Attorney General Carr and
I will not allow this admin
istration to force hard
working Georgians to
choose between their liveli
hoods and this vaccine."
“This unlawful mandate
is yet another example of
the Biden administration’s
complete disregard for the
Constitutional rights af
forded to our state and our
citizens,” said Attorney
General Carr. “The federal
government has no au
thority to force healthcare
decisions on Georgia’s
companies and its employ
ees under the guise of
workplace safety. We are
fighting back against this
unprecedented abuse of
power to stop this mandate
before it causes irreparable
harm to our state and its
economy.”
The lawsuit challenges
the ETS as issued by the
Biden administration's Oc
cupational Safety and
Health Administration and
the United States Depart
ment of Labor. Specifically,
the lawsuit asserts the ETS:
• Exceeds the Depart
ment of Labor’s statutory
authority;
• Fails to comply with
the standards for issuing
an ETS; and
•Conflicts with the First
Amendment and the Reli
gious Freedom Restoration
Act.
Georgia has joined the
states of Florida and Ala
bama, along with several
private employers, in filing
the lawsuit with the United
States Court of Appeals for
the Eleventh Circuit, ac
cording to the governor’s
office.
A copy of the lawsuit
can be made available by
request to the Office of the
Attorney General.
“While hospitals across
Georgia and the country
are hemorrhaging staff,
Biden’s new plan also im
plements a vaccine man
date for 17 million health
care workers at facilities
participating in the federal
Medicare and Medicaid
health insurance pro
grams,” according to an on
line report. “The president
previously ordered the
same requirements for
nursing home staff.”
On Nov. 13, AG Carr
provided this statement on
the lawsuit concerning pri
vate employers:
“The 5th Circuit U.S.
Court of Appeals has re
affirmed its decision to halt
Biden’s unlawful employer
vaccine mandate. In issu
ing its ruling, the court as
serts what we know to be
true - the President does
not have the authority to
impose a blanket mandate
on Georgia’s private em
ployers.”
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN
BECOMING A TEACHER?
On Tuesday, November 30th, at 6:00 p.m. the Griffin Regional
Educational Service Agency will conduct the South Metro Atlanta
GaTAPP (Georgia Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy)
Information Session hosted by Griffin RESA virtually via Zoom.
The GaTAPP program is designed to attract highly motivated
professionals outside the teaching profession who hold a Bachelors
degree or higher from a regionally accredited college/university
and are interested in pursuing a teaching career. Human Resources
Directors from Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike,
Griffin-Spalding and Thomaston-Upson School Systems will be in
attendance at this event to virtually provide information on
prospective employment opportunities for the remainder of
the 2021-2022 school year and for the 2022-2023 school year.
Space will be limited and only those with reservations
will be admitted.
To reserve your space, please RSVP to TAPP at
TAPP@griffinresa.net.
*
To register, please send an
email to
TAPP@griffinresa.net
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