The Centers for Disease Control revised its guidelines Thursday to recommend that healthcare workers who contract Covid-19 but show mild-to-moderate symptoms are not considered to be severely immunocompromised.
A nurse wearing protective clothing emerges from a tent at a coronaviruses testing center. The staff at the medical center were asked to go to a screening center on the campus for testing. John Moore poses for a picture.
The images are from the same company.
According to the guidelines, healthcare workers who contract the virus should wait at least 24 hours after their last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and should wait until their symptoms have improved.
The New York Times reported that some hospitals have adopted a seven-day isolation period for staff that have been exposed to an infectious disease.
Hospitals should cancel all non-essential procedures and visits if necessary to mitigate staffing shortages, according to the CDC.
The CDC revised its guidelines for workers who have higher-risk exposure to Covid-19, such as having their eyes, nose or mouth exposed to material that may contain the virus, but who are not confirmed to have been exposed.
The CDC said that if a worker has received all recommended vaccine doses, they don't need to stop working.
Hospitals have struggled with worker burnout and understaffing as a result of the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant. In Massachusetts, New York and Ohio, the National Guard has been sent to help overburdened hospital staff. The president of the American Hospital Association told NPR that we are facing a national emergency when it comes to the workforce.
The CDC recommended a five day quark for people with a breakthrough Covid-19 case, but the Airlines for America asked the CDC to shorten it. The omicron coronaviruses surge could cause potential worker shortages and operation disruptions if the time for quark is not reduced. Sara Nelson, the flight attendant union chief, said that the airlines call would pose health risks.
The New York Times said that C.D.C. was shortening the covidy period for health care workers.
With omicron now dominant, hospitals struggle to prepare for the worst.
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