The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering new guidance to get some critical employees back to work. The plan would detail how people who were exposed to the coronavirus, but have no symptoms, can return to their jobs.
“For the most part, if you’ve had the virus you’re not getting it again. So, someone who’s been infected is one of your safest employees,” said Dr. Howard Forman, director of the Healthcare Management program at Yale University.
But for those employees who were exposed but have no symptoms, Forman says there needs to be a number of systems in place before those guideline changes. He says there should be plans to prevent the possible spread or on-site sickness by an asymptomatic employee.
“Anybody who is symptomatic, develops a fever is immediately isolated is immediately tested and we continue to do that to keep the workforce as healthy as possible,” said Forman
He says without access to rapid tests, it could be dangerous to the progress we’re making under current CDC guidance.
“Right now the most important thing is to see capacity in our hospitals go all the way back down to normal before we do relaxing of social distancing measures at all.”
Forman says even when the virus lessens, our old normal just won’t be the same.
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“Restaurants, even if they open up they’re going to do it under very, very different circumstances,” said Forman.
Getting as close as possible to that old normal will take a lot of strategic planning.
“It is so important to get our economy back going but we do not want to do it at the expense of human lives.”
