The National Nurses United (NNU) union has issued a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urging the agency to take action as the country faces another wave of COVID-19. The letter follows a surge of BA.5 variant cases across the U.S., as well as a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations within Georgia.
The letter calls on the CDC to strengthen COVID-19 guidance on when to implement mitigation measures, post-exposure quarantine measures, isolation procedures and to “more fully recognize the risks and impacts of long Covid and to conduct more effective public education regarding the risks of long Covid.”
“As nurses, NNU’s members see the impact of lax public health measures on patients—in the form of more Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations, as well as an increase in patients seeking care for the effects of long Covid,” NNU President Jean Ross, RN, said in the letter. “Now, as cases are once again rising and remaining at high levels across the country, and as we are contending with the BA.5 variant with increased transmissibility and immune evasion, and with more Omicron subvariants spreading around the world, NNU’s members are concerned for the health and safety of our patients, our colleagues, and our communities.”
As of July 13, the seven-day average of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases within the state of Georgia was 2,728. A total 86 of Georgia’s 159 counties are classified as having high community levels of COVID-19, as of July 13.
“The only way to effectively prevent long Covid is to prevent infections,” Ross said. “Data indicates that reinfection poses an increased risk of long Covid.
“We urge the CDC to immediately strengthen its Covid-19 guidance, based on the available scientific evidence and the precautionary principle, to more effectively stop transmission of Covid-19 in order to protect the public’s health.”
The National Nurses United union has over 175,000 members nationwide.
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