California Mandates Weekly Coronavirus Testing for Health Care Workers -- Occupational Health & Safety

California Mandates Weekly Coronavirus Testing for Health Care Workers

After a reported 35,525 COVID-19 cases among health care workers, the California Department of Public Health will now require workers to be tested weekly.

Dec 03, 2020

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced on November 30 that all acute-care hospitals in the state must test health care workers weekly for COVID-19, according to National Nurses United.

Hospitals are expected to begin this new protocol on December 14. Health care workers who display coronavirus symptoms will also be required to undergo testing immediately.

This order follows a September report by National Nurses United (NNU) that named California as the leading state in COVID-19 infections among health care professionals, with 35,525 cases.

“We applaud California for being a leader in requiring this type of testing program because it is desperately needed to fight this virus,” said Zenei Triunfo-Cortez, president of NNU. “There are simply too many asymptomatic people with COVID-19, and without robust testing, our hospitals will remain centers for spreading the disease instead of centers of healing as they should be.”

The NNU report goes on to name 600 health care workers who died from coronavirus complications as of the date of its release, September 16.

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