January 10, 2022 – According to a report from Becker’s Hospital Review, the California Department of Public Health has temporarily changed the coronavirus guidelines to allow asymptomatic, COVID-19 positive healthcare workers back to work without isolation or testing. This also allows those who have been exposed to COVID-19 and remain asymptomatic to return to work.
These guidelines are in effect from January 8 to February 1, to curb the ongoing “critical staffing shortages currently being experienced across the healthcare continuum because of the rise in the omicron variant,” the state health department said.
In a news release, Cathy Kennedy, RN, President of the California Nurses Association criticized the decision, saying, “Gov. Newsom and our state’s public health leaders are putting the needs of healthcare corporations before the safety of patients and workers. We want to care for our patients and see them get better – not potentially infect them. If we get sick, who will be left to care for our patients and our community?”
The nurse’s union further argued that “eliminating the isolation time and asymptomatic or exposed workers will guarantee more preventable transmission, cases, hospitalizations, and death.”