Government Healthcare Policy, Business and Technology

Anger After North Dakota Governor Asks COVID-Positive Health Staff to Stay on Job

Health Leaders: Nurse Leslie McKamey has gotten used to the 16-hour shifts, to skipping lunch, to the nightly ritual of throwing all her clothes in the laundry and showering as soon as she walks through the door to avoid potentially infecting her children. She's even grown accustomed to triaging COVID patients, who often arrive at the emergency room so short of breath they struggle to describe their symptoms.

But despite the trauma and exhaustion of the past eight months, she was shocked when North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said last week that healthcare workers who test positive for the coronavirus but do not display symptoms could still report to work.

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