Plans afoot for return to work of recovered staff
EMPLOYEES could return to work if they have recovered from a confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19 within the previous three months, according to chief medical officer Tony Holohan.
New guidance on when an employee who has had the coronavirus can return to work is expected to boost efforts to kickstart the economy. The phased easing of lockdown is due to begin later this month.
Dr Holohan cited the scientific view that if someone has had the virus, there is no convincing evidence for reinfection in the early months afterwards.
This view was taken at the meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) yesterday based on expert advice and the latest scientific knowledge.
“The question arose in relation to healthcare work, but it might have application beyond that,” he said.
This could prove significant as more workplaces reopen over the summer as the lockdown measures are relaxed.
It came amid reports that employers will need to have special isolation areas for staff who display coronavirus symptoms under new protocols for reopening workplaces.
The Government is to launch its Return to Work Safety Protocol this weekend. It will include a raft of measures that will have to be implemented in workplaces.
Among the measures expected are ‘no-handshake’ policies and the installation of plastic sneeze guards at workplaces where two-metre separation social distancing is not possible.
The plans were developed by the Department of Business along with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, employers’ group Ibec and the Construction Industry Federation.
The Department of Health and the HSE were also involved and the Health and Safety Authority will enforce the rules.
Under the protocol, staff who display coronavirus symptoms during the working day will be directed to a designated isolation area by a manager.
Two-metre distance will have to be maintained as transportation is arranged for the worker to go home or to get medical attention. They will have to avoid public transport.
Logs of work groups will have to be put in place for contact tracing, and a risk assessment of any incident would have to be carried out.
Sources said the introduction of temperature checks for workers would be dependent on public health advice, which at present does not require them.
However, some companies may introduce enhanced measures and the protocols are the “minimum standards” they must comply with.
Workers will have to undergo Covid-19 training on the latest public health advice before a workplace reopens.
Employers must update safety plans before reopening that are agreed with the workers.
Patricia King, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), welcomed the protocol as an important weapon against the virus.
“The price of negligence is too high,” she said.
“There can be no shortcuts or opt-outs when it comes to matters of life and death, Covid-19 does not discriminate and every worker in every sector is entitled to the protection of this protocol”.