New Guidelines Issued by Trump’s CDC Dangerous to Frontline Workers

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) weakening its written guidance protections for health care workers during the COVID-19 outbreak:

The CDC weakening its protection guidelines in the face of a pandemic is unconscionable. America’s health care workers have shown true courage by tirelessly working the frontlines during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. These workers are among the most at risk of contracting the virus and if they are not properly protected, the effects could be devastating.

A recent nationwide survey from National Nurses United (NNU) of registered nurses showed that the vast majority of United States hospitals and health care facilities are vastly unprepared to handle and contain cases of COVID-19. The government needs to do its job and strengthen its recommendations and hold employers accountable for implementing those protections. Cases of COVID-19 in America are already rapidly multiplying, and if our country is not protecting its health care workers, things will only get worse.

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