With COVID on the job: France allows infected medics to work

By JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

LE PECQ, France (AP) — France is allowing medics and health workers who are infected with the coronavirus but have few or no symptoms to keep treating patients rather than self-isolate. The extraordinary stop-gap measure is aimed at alleviating staff shortages at hospitals and other medical facilities caused by an unprecedented explosion in virus infections. The special exemption to French quarantine rules testifies to the growing strain being placed on the country’s health system by the fast-spreading omicron variant. The exemption is also a calculated risk, with the possibility that COVID-positive medics could infect colleagues and patients weighed against the need to keep essential services running.