They are so short staffed at my local hospital

[Diamond_Dog]

They announced today that they’re going to let people who test positive for Covid continue working if they are asymptomatic or have symptoms mild enough that they can remain at work so long as they can “fulfill their duties.”

[h2ebits]

1. NO, NO, NO!!!!

[Demovictory9]

2. That seems counter productive

[leftstreet]

3. Wait. I thought letting the virus circulate leads to variants?

And variants can be frightening unknowns?

I'm lost

[Emile]

4. Think if I could I would avoid going to this hospital. Our little

hospital fired 25 people back in October for being unvaccinated.

[uppityperson]

5. This is so sad.

[lapfog_1]

6. We are in the "hard calculation" phase of the pandemic

crises standard of care, best good for the most people, etc

What do I mean? They are calculating the cost in lives if the critical care workers are either absent from their jobs (meaning X number of people are going to die) or with the virus and working (meaning that the virus spreads, possibly a little more rapidly) and Y more people are going to die as a result of the rapid spread of the disease.

My guess is that the calculation is based on the vaccine escape of Omicron combined with the less severity of the disease (for the vaccinated and boosted) compared to the known number of deaths if insufficient workers are available to save the lives of those in the ICU.

I am glad I don't have to make these decisions.

[iemanja]

7. Choose another hospital

If you have that option.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

8. The economy's doing great though, so.

[Liberty Belle]

9. Awful. Are they only treating COVID patients?

It would be crazy to expose anyone else to this. They can hire traveling nurses and physician assistants instead short term.

My daughter is a traveling PA working in a Montana hospital ICU.

[MiniMe]

10. I had an appointment in the Wound Center at the hospital today

I went in the door masked, wouldn't take my mask off. They took my temp with those forehead things, told me to put hand sanitizer on and put a new mask on which they provided. I did all that, but I didn't take the mask I went in with off. I just put a new mask over the mask I had on. Being at the hospital is the last place I'd want to be maskless, even for a minute

[alittlelark]

11. O M G

[Lars39]

12. If the purpose of admitting covid patients is to

keep them isolated from the general public, letting covid positive staff work throughout a hospital does not make sense…the staff is then spreading the virus.

[Duncanpup]

13. Insanity

Yet what are the other options probably nothing

[Diamond_Dog]

14. The other option would be close down the hospital.

Insanity is right.