Covid-19: North Dakota and Belgium have let infected health staff work on wards

Authorities in Belgium and the US state of North Dakota are allowing healthcare workers with covid-19 back to work, claiming that staff shortages necessitated the move.

On 9 November the state health officer of North Dakota signed an order specifically exempting healthcare workers from a statewide requirement that people who have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 isolate at home for 10 days.1 “Health care workers are exempt from this order solely for purposes of working in a covid unit within a licensed health care facility,” the order states.

The governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum, said at a press conference that he wasn’t …