UZ Brussel does not yet have infected staff to deploy
No infected staff will work in the covid department at UZ Brussel today. There is not enough other staff available. CEO Marc Noppen does keep the option open, should the need arise.
Healthcare providers who are infected with Covid-19 but no symptoms can already be used exceptionally for Covid care in their hospital today. That is an advice from Sciensano at the end of last year, but it is only an exception in the event of major staff shortages.
Last week it appeared that other Brussels hospitals are struggling with such shortages. In the Brugmann hospital, among other places, infected employees who do not feel and are fully vaccinated can raid the covid department.
The Flemish care umbrella organization Zorgnet-Icuro now asks to investigate an extension of that scheme, provided contaminated care can also strengthen non-secure care. On Tuesday evening, CEO Marc Noppen of UZ Brussel announced VRT NWS that this option also exists in his hospital.
Not needed yet
Spokeswoman Karolien Deprez of UZ Brussel clarified today that sufficient staff is currently available. “The workload is high, but at the moment we don’t have a staff shortage. The route to deploy infected staff in the rest of the hospital would only be an option if it turns out that there really is no other solution.”
In the coming weeks, an increase in the number of omikron infections is expected, which could also affect healthcare staff. Studs referred at VRT to the high vaccination coverage among his staff and the fact that the omikron variant appears to be less substantial than the delta variant for the time being.