In a sign of how desperate conditions are, North Dakota’s Republican Governor Doug Burgum announced Monday that his state’s hospitals are at 100% capacity and that to alleviate staffing shortages, health care workers who test positive for coronavirus can continue working as long as they’re asymptomatic, the Grand Fork Herald reports.
Burgum said that COVID-positive health care staff would only be allowed to work on wards treating coronavirus patients, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease.
North Dakota hospitals are seeing a surge in coronavirus patients, with the seven-day running average tripling in the state in the last month. Additionally, patients who postponed non-emergency surgeries are also stressing hospital capacity.
Besides the number of beds, the other part of the hospital capacity equation is personnel. North Dakota has also seen a number of health care workers infected with coronavirus, reducing the number of staff available to tend to patients. The emergency authorization allowing COVID-positive staff to work with coronavirus patients is designed to follow CDC “surge” guidelines for hospitals reaching capacity.