Stressed hospitals are asking workers with covid to return -- even if they may be infectious

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Brittany Shammas
@britsham
On today's front page: Amid staffing shortages exacerbated by the omicron variant, hospitals are increasingly asking staff infected with covid to come to work -- even if they may be infectious. With @KnowlesHannah

washingtonpost.com
Stressed hospitals are asking workers with covid to return — even if they may be infectious
The changes underscore how the hyper-transmissible omicron variant has sidelined employees, overwhelmed resources and upended nearly two years of strict protocols.
2:37 PM · Jan 24, 2022

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/01/23/hospital-workers-covid-isolation-cdc/

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Candice Cordero still had a fever and a cough late last month when, she says, her hospital told her it was time to come back to work.

The Bradenton, Fla. nurse was stunned — and worried she could still be contagious seven days into her breakthrough covid-19 infection. When an employee health representative said she could come back anyway, citing updated federal health guidance, Cordero said she refused. She viewed it as too risky.

“I feel like employers are trying to force people back into the workforce too soon,” Cordero said of her hospital’s alleged request, which a spokesperson said was inconsistent with hospital guidelines, including that health care workers should stay home if they have a fever. “People want to go into the hospital and know that they’re going to be safe — not get infected by a virus they could get sick and die from.”

Hospitals are increasingly asking staff who have the coronavirus to work while potentially infectious, underscoring how the hyper-transmissible omicron variant has sidelined employees, overwhelmed resources and upended nearly two years of strict protocols. Though vaccine requirements are common at hospitals, many health care workers are coming down with the virus, exacerbating staffing issues.

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