April 17, 2020
PPE lack, not holidays to blame for nurse COVID cases
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation is rejecting analysis released by Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield indicating more than half of nursing and other health care staff tested positive for COVID-19 contracted it overseas or outside the workplace.
Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says it’s an attempt to blame staff for bringing COVID-19 into the workplace without any real evidence or proper investigation.
She says it comes at a convenient time for employers in DHBs and Aged Care, who are being criticised for not making enough personal protective equipment available.
Ms Nuku says new research out of Wuhan indicates floors, surfaces and the air in health facilities can now be commonly contaminated with COVID-19, so infection is much more likely to have come from contact with patients or from within the workplace environment itself.
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