More patients are getting COVID-19 during hospital stays. Experts worry it's because infected healthcare workers are sick on the job, Business Insider, 1/16/22

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/more-patients-are-getting-covid-19-during-hospital-stays-experts-worry-it-s-because-infected-healthcare-workers-are-sick-on-the-job/ar-AASPNRd?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

... The CDC announced looser isolation rules for healthcare workers in December amid staffing shortages.
The number of inpatients who contracted COVID-19 during their hospital stays rose shortly afterward.

Disease experts worry the CDC policy is fueling in-hospital transmission as infected employees return to work.

... the CDC said the isolation period could be cut even more — down to five days — in the event of staffing shortages. In that case, healthcare workers wouldn't need to test out of isolation. And in a crisis scenario, when there's no longer enough staff to provide safe patient care, there would be no work restrictions at all, the CDC said.
But disease experts fear the CDC policy is fueling in-hospital transmission, since research shows that some people with COVID-19 can still be infectious for up to 10 days.

A week after the CDC's announcement on December 23, the total number of hospitalized patients who contracted COVID-19 AT LEAST 2 WEEKS INTO THEIR HOSPITAL STAY went up 80% — from around 1,200 to 2,200 patients — according to HHS data.

Omicron's transmissibility doesn't fully explain the sharp rise of COVID-19 in hospitals...