Given that healthcare workers are frequently tested, mostly vaccinated, and need to be masked, if the quarantine period is shortened, it is “very unlikely to cause a significant amount of infection. It seems like, “said Dr. Bob Wachter, Dean of the School of Medicine. At the University of California, San Francisco.
“Given the health implications, the consequences of keeping them away from the workforce are enormous,” he added. UCSF is also considering whether to reduce the quarantine period for workers to five days. “I don’t know if I can save in 5 days, but it’s better than 10 days than 7 days.”
However, Dr. Jha emphasized that further research is needed to clearly answer questions about how long an Omicron-infected person may remain infected. This variant is much more contagious than previous versions of the coronavirus.
The pandemic exacerbated the labor shortage that plagued both hospitals and nursing homes. Nurses, assistants, and other workers suffered from widespread burnout, and many left the scene for more profitable work. Just this week, President Biden said 1,000 military medical professionals will be stationed to assist the hospital, and the National Guard has already worked in several nursing homes and hospitals to address staff shortages in some states. I am.
Getting medical staff back to work sooner is the goal of some policy changes in hospitals reporting higher cases. In addition to the short duration of quarantine, the policy includes requirements for testing, vaccination status, and symptoms.
The hospital welcomed the revised guidelines. “Today’s announcement from the CDC will help healthcare professionals return to patient care faster and more safely, helping to mitigate the serious labor shortage crisis faced by hospitals across the country,” quality and Nancy Foster, Vice President of Patient Safety Policy, said. For the American Hospital Association.
In New York, where the number of Omicron cases has skyrocketed and an average of more than 4,600 hospitalizations have been reported in seven days, major hospitals have recently changed the isolation protocol for vaccinated employees.
