Home / News / World News / Article /
Covid-infected medics forced to work in France
Updated On: 07 January, 2022 08:27 AM IST | Le Pecq | Agencies
The government says this is a need to keep essential services running amid staff shortages caused by the unprecedented rise in coronavirus cases
Listen to this article :
Nurses look at a screen near rooms with patients from Covid-19, in the ICU unit at the Charles Nicolle public hospital, in Rouen, France. File pic/AP
France is allowing health care workers who are infected with the coronavirus but have few or no symptoms to keep treating patients rather than self-isolate, an extraordinary stopgap measure aimed at easing staff shortages at hospitals and other facilities caused by an unprecedented explosion in cases. The special exemption to France’s quarantine rules being rolled out to hospitals, elderly care homes, doctors’ offices and other essential health services testifies to the growing strain on the medical system by the fast-spreading omicron variant.
It is a calculated risk, with the possibility that health care workers with Covid-19 could infect colleagues and patients being weighed against what the government says is a need to keep essential services running. Governments and industries have warned that isolation rules are creating staff shortages across a range of sectors as the omicron variant causes surges in infections in many countries. In some places, quarantines have been shortened to get workers back to their posts. French hospital authorities said the new flexibility from self-isolation would help them plug staffing holes when they open up.
Read Next Story
Trending Stories
Latest Photos
Latest Videos
Latest Web Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
Mid-Day Fast
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT