Hospitals across the United States are increasingly making the extraordinary decision to allow nurses and other workers infected with COVID-19 to continue working with little or no symptoms.
The move is in response to a shortage of staff in hospitals and the staggering number of cases that the omicron variant of the coronavirus is causing.
California health authorities announced over the weekend that hospital personnel who test positive but are asymptomatic can continue working. Some hospitals in Rhode Island and Arizona have also informed employees that they can continue to work if they have no or only mild symptoms.
The omicron variant has triggered new cases of COVID-19 in the United States above 700,000 a day on average, surpassing the record set a year ago. The number of Americans hospitalized by the virus hovers around 108,000, just shy of the peak of 124,000 recorded in January last year.
Many hospitals are not only overwhelmed with cases, but are dealing with a staff shortage due to many employees suffering from COVID-19.
The omicron variant is highly contagious, but appears to be causing less severe disease than the delta variant.
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that health care workers who do not have symptoms can return to work following seven days following having a negative diagnostic test, but that the The quarantine period can be further shortened if there is a shortage of staff.
Last week, France announced that it would allow healthcare workers with mild or asymptomatic symptoms to continue caring for patients rather than isolate themselves.
In the Phoenix metropolitan area, Dignity Health, a major hospital operator, sent a memo to staff stating that those who are infected with the virus and feel well enough to work might request permission from their managers to return. to attend to patients.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure that our employees can safely return to work while protecting our patients and staff from the spread of COVID-19,” Dignity Health said in a statement.
In California, the Department of Public Health reported that the new policy was established in the face of “critical staff shortages.” He asked hospitals to make every attempt to fill in the gaps by bringing in employees from outside staffing agencies.
