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UNIONS HAVE SAID healthcare workers must not be exempt from the new requirement for people to restrict their movements for five days if a member of their household has Covid-19.
It follows comments from HSE CEO Paul Reid this afternoon that the health service is “working through” a policy around asymptomatic close contacts remaining in work.
The ‘derogation’ measure that healthcare workers who are close contacts but have no symptoms can, in some cases, return to work if they test negative for Covid-19 has been in place at different times during the pandemic, particularly when cases are surging.
The government announced on Tuesday that people who live in the same household as a person with confirmed Covid-19 must restrict their movements for five days and do three antigen tests during this time.
Restricting movements includes staying home from work in most cases and Reid said the HSE is “very concerned” about the potential impacts this would have on staffing levels.
“We’re working through right now in terms of how derogation would apply to healthcare workers,” Reid said at a press briefing today.
He said workers “would be able to go to work under certain monitored conditions at work” as has happened before.
The National Joint Council group of healthcare unions has written to the HSE to oppose any plans to make healthcare workers exempt from the rule.
National Joint Council Chairperson Tony Fitzpatrick said this measure would “not help to prevent the spread of the disease”.
Fitzpatrick said the unions – the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, Siptu and Fórsa – are “strongly opposed” to Reid’s comments about this earlier today.
“We cannot repeat the mistakes of previous derogations that allowed healthcare workers to be exempt from public health advice,” Fitzpatrick said.
“Healthcare workers should not be treated differently in terms of public health advice. The HSE and Government need to take the concerns of patient-facing staff seriously.
We cannot have a situation where the highest cohort of workers who are dealing with unvaccinated patients and working in environments with poor ventilation like many of our healthcare settings, are putting their colleagues and loved ones at further risk.
“We are already seeing over 4,500 healthcare workers out of work because of this virus, we cannot allow a carte blanche decision that is not rooted in public health advice to be made.”
Reid said said the new policy for households “would have a significant impact on our resourcing”.
Healthcare workers would “continue to restrict the movements as best they can” while going to work, Reid added.
HSE Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry said the health service is finalising its derogation document while “recognising, of course, that the risk is much lower because the healthcare workers are vaccinated”.
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It can’t be one rule for one and another rule for another.
@Scott Coulter: Its laughable isn’t it the teachers are “source Alan Kelly labour leader”but health workers not .
@Paul Gorry: ‘Alan Kelly’ need you say any more? The second biggest cloWn in the Dail, pipped at the post by monumental half wit Eamon Ryan
It’s seems our government is losing the people, the message from our politicians is all over the place,NPHET just take control before panic sets in.
@The Shadow: I am afraid you are correct. How many rules have they announced now? Nobody is listening anymore.
How about vaccinating healthcare workers as a priority. All should have had their booster by now instead of so many getting covid. No duty of care to staff but hardly surprising.
@EMCD: As a health care worker, we are getting boosters at 6 months after our second vaccine shot.
It’s already start.
@Roger Bond: It’s already started? It should have started months ago. Healthcare workers vaccinated in January and February are STILL waiting on their booster.
So glad that as a Frontline worker I can’t get covid , makes me a whole lot more at ease not like W T F
Test them. Simple
@Aidan Haughey: free antigen tests for everyone in the audience is the way to go , by everyone in the audience I mean everyone in the Republic of Ireland and not just those at the toy show !
@Ríain HenC: antigen tests should be made available to health care workers and those working closely with patients as it can mitigate outbreaks within a hospital and within the community
Nobody should be exempt. The rules should be the same for everyone. Symptoms = Isolate & Test. Close Contact = Isolate & Test. It’s just that simple. No need to confuse the message with ” if you are a close contact but don’t have symptoms then you don’t have to isolate “. I wonder how many people followed that advise and spread the virus unknown to themselves.
We’re going nowhere fast with this virus, every plan the govt has come up with has been uninspired. Heading for 2 years into this virus and it’s like groundhog day. We elect politicians to lead us, they have teams of advisors to show them the way and yet here we are in Shamblestown again.
BTW, Leo’s interview with CNN, how has he not bring taken to task on it?
@Derek Lyster: this is what “learning to live with the virus” looks like.
@Mac Muinteoir: but we’re not learning to live with it, we’re getting messages followed up by the explaination of those messages followed up by further clarity of those messages to the point where an increasing number of the public have lost all faith in any messages they are getting.
What a joke. Healthcare workers can go into work even though the risk is tenfold for them passing it to a medically vulnerable patient and colleagues. Can’t actually cope with this bull anymore
Not all employer agree or allow 5 days self isolation for being close contact. Greedy c+nt.
Antigen testing should also be available free to all Healthcare workers not just those people who work in Kildare Street
@Maurice Frazer: yes no testing available in hospital. My husband works in manufacturing and tests readily available as often as wanted
O my God is he having a laugh…….
because we are health care workers we don’t have the same rights as everyone else. Aldo we we caught COVID are life’s are at risk aswell
have your say