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In what is considered an underestimate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that more than 9,000 healthcare workers in the United States have been infected with novel coronavirus and 27 have died. Despite the severity of a spectrum of cases, 90% of the healthcare workers recovered without hospitalization.
An unsuspected case of COVID-19 — hospitalized as the pandemic was beginning in the United States — exposed 43 healthcare personnel and caused what are thought to be the first occupational infections with the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Employee health professionals should consider their local situation with the coronavirus in using one of the two recommended options: a test-based method or a non-test-based method.
In another new normal of the COVID-19 pandemic, all healthcare personnel should wear surgical masks throughout their entire shift, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends. Moreover, patients should be actively screened for fever before entering the facility and wear their own mask or be provided one to receive care.
Three different national surveys revealed widespread shortages of personal protective equipment and other critical hospital supplies, a situation the president of the American Nurses Association compared to going into battle without armor.
Are there recommended work restrictions for pregnant healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is somewhat equivocal on the issue, essentially saying no heightened risk has been clearly established, but the known risk from similar viruses and influenza warrants caution.
While antibody tests are broadly seen as a way to determine immunity and exposure to the pandemic coronavirus, the Food and Drug Administration recently warned that tests should not be used as the “sole basis to diagnose COVID-19.”
The bruised faces of healthcare workers have become a badge of courage, the price they are willing to pay for wearing respirators, masks, and other personal protective equipment over long work shifts caring for COVID-19 patients.
A union representing 15,000 healthcare workers in California has issued a “bill of rights” demanding the levels of testing and personal protective equipment needed to provide a safe workplace in the coronavirus pandemic.
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Financial Disclosure: Medical Writer Gary Evans, Editor Jill Drachenberg, Editor Jonathan Springston, Editorial Group Manager Leslie
Coplin, Nurse Planner MaryAnn Gruden, MSN, CRNP, NP-C, COHN-S/CM, and Accreditations Director Amy M. Johnson, MSN, RN, CPN,
report no consultant, stockholder, speaker’s bureau, research, or other financial relationships with companies having ties to this field of study.
