Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)\nreleased guidelines for healthcare workers working with patients affected by\nthe coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19). These guidelines apply to all healthcare\nsettings in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\ntheir guidelines, the CDC made several recommendations that can endanger\nhealthcare workers, including allowing the use of facemasks instead of\nrespirators and not requiring Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms for COVID-19\npatients.
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\nCWA strongly opposes the rollbacks in protections in the new CDC\nrecommendations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nnew CDC recommendations are a downgrading of protections for healthcare\npersonnel (HCP) on the front line of the fight against the pandemic. Simply\nput, facemasks cannot provide the level of protection afforded by respirators\nand employers will be more likely to use this downgraded level of personal\nprotective equipment (PPE) based on the CDC’s guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CWA’s\nHealth and Safety Department has provided Districts and Healthcare Locals with a list of items that they should address with\nemployers<\/strong><\/a> to ensure that this recommendation does not\nincrease the risk for healthcare workers, their families, patients, and the\ncommunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released guidelines for healthcare workers working with patients affected by the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19). These guidelines apply to all healthcare settings in the U.S. In their guidelines, the CDC made several … Continue reading