Hospitals allow COVID-positive staff to work amid surge [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• In his Nov. 9 statement, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said that hospitals would allow COVID-19 infected health care workers (HCWs) who are asymptomatic to continue working.
• Some key experts claimed that the risk of spreading the virus is very low as long as asymptomatic HCWs would adhere to precautionary guidelines.
• The decision was in accordance with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

In an unanticipated move issued on Nov. 9, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) allowed COVID-19 asymptomatic health care workers (HCWs) to keep reporting for duty as state hospitals reached 100 percent capacity amid the resurgence of the virus.

In his statement, Burgum said that state hospitals “are under enormous pressure.” He also tweeted that since hospitals asked for it, “a State Health Order will allow asymptomatic, COVID-positive health care workers to work in the COVID unit of a licensed facility, so long as precautions are taken as recommended by the CDC.”

Burgum said that the state was “directing additional rapid testing resources to health care workers to help identify cases more quickly and get staff back to caring for patients.”

Critics were quick to denounce the resolution as one citizen wrote on Twitter: “This all but guarantees more doctors and nurses will catch COVID and spread it to their patients. Your hospitalization rate will double in 2 weeks.”

While it may sound frightening, some experts told that precautions put in place could effectively avoid potential virus spread such as wearing of personal protective equipment (PPEs).

In his interview with Yahoo Life, chief quality and patient safety officer from Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University Dr. Iahn Gonsenauser said that it was really difficult “to process initially, but it really does make sense given the need they have,” adding that “the benefit here is so huge because of the need for personnel.”

With a set up where asymptomatic HCWs would only be working on COVID-19 units, Gonsenhauser said that the “risk to the patient is very low.”

“And so long as the testing is accurate — and there’s no reason to believe it’s not — the risk to the provider who tested positive for COVID … is likely not really significantly increased … as a result of continuing to work,” he continued.

An allergist and immunologist with the Allergy and Asthma Network, Dr. Purvi Parikh backed Gonsenhauser’s statement.

“If they are only in COVID-19 wards, the risks to patients are low. However, they are risking infecting other staff and coworkers that may not be infected yet, especially in hospital common areas,” he told Yahoo Life.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, guidelines were set to address hospital staff shortages, including allowing COVID-19-infected HCWs to continue working. This action can be made if the situation reaches a “crisis” level and as long as those infected workers would strictly follow precautionary measures.

Source: AOL.com