CDC’s Newest Infection Control Guidance Will Cause 'Decreased Protections,' National Nurses United says

'Now is not the time to remove protections from COVID-19,' NNU president says in a letter to the CDC. 

National Nurses United (NNU) is asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to walk back the latest update to its infection control guidance for health workers because it will cause “decreased protections” for healthcare workers and patients.

As of late last week, the CDC no longer recommends universal masking in healthcare settings, unless they are in areas of high COVID-19 transmission.

The move is a major shift from its previous recommendation for universal masking, and one that has prompted the nurses’ union to send a letter to the CDC urging the agency to “recommend optimal workplace protections for nurses and other healthcare workers.”

“While some changes move in a more protective direction, overall, these updates will result in decreased protections for healthcare workers and our patients, which will result in increased transmission, illness, and death,” says the seven-page letter, addressed to CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky and signed by NNU President Jean Ross, RN.

“Now is not the time to remove protections from COVID-19,” Ross says in the letter. “The United States continues to see a significant level of transmission, with over 88% of U.S. counties experiencing high or substantial transmission.”

More than five million new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the U.S. in the last two months, which the CDC estimates is likely only one-fourth of the true infections that occurred, and more than 350 people die each day from the virus, the letter says.

The risk of reinfection has substantially increased due to a combination of the emergence of the Omicron variant, waning vaccine immunity, and lack of public health measures, according to Ross.

The CDC’s infection control guidance updates will result in decreased protection for nurses, other healthcare workers, and patients, including:

• Only recommending the use of source control—such as a facemask—in healthcare facilities in areas with high COVID-19 transmission levels.
• Specifying that healthcare workers may choose not to wear source control when they are in “well-defined areas that are restricted from patient access” if community levels are not high.
• Changing language on universal PPE use for healthcare providers from a clear recommendation to a suggestion.

“Nurses and other health care workers have been—and continue to be—on the front lines of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic,” the letter concludes. “As general public health measures are rolled back, it is of even more importance that our healthcare facilities remain safe places for healing, including for our most vulnerable patients.”