Some Alberta employers are asking staff to break quarantine and return to work
Alberta’s top doctor has heard reports of employers asking their employees to come back to work before their COVID-19 quarantine is up, a practice she hopes to quash.
Some employees who have been identified as a close contact of someone with COVID-19 and told to self-isolate have been asked by their bosses to take a COVID-19 test and come back to work if they receive a negative result, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said Wednesday.
“Not only is this the wrong thing to do to protect each other, it’s also illegal,” she said.
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She reminded Albertans that a test is just a snapshot of whether a person is infected at a particular moment in time. After coming into contact with a known case, a person could test negative three days later but get sick seven days later.
Quarantine and self-isolation rules are there for a reason, and everyone must follow them, Hinshaw added.
It is critical that the mandated quarantine & isolation protocols are followed & respected. I would ask employers to respect the need for staff to isolate & support them wherever possible. (8/11)
— Dr. Deena Hinshaw (@CMOH_Alberta) January 20, 2021
She did not say where the reports came from or what industries the employees worked in.
Alberta reported 669 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, and Hinshaw has said the province must proceed with caution after lifting some outdoor gathering restrictions on Monday.
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