National Nurses United is calling on the CDC to ramp up public health restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as cases and hospitalizations rise nationwide, fueled by the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5.
In a July 20 letter to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, the nation's largest nurses union said its members see firsthand the consequences of lax public health restrictions on patients and the healthcare workforce.
The group is urging the CDC to strengthen guidance and communications regarding the virus's spread and when to implement mitigation measures, such as masking.
"Waiting until hospitalizations are increasing before recommending universal masking indoors in public means that the opportunity to prevent those hospitalizations was missed," the union said.
NNU also requested the agency strengthen its quarantine and isolation guidelines to recognize the risk of reinfections and new data on infectious time periods.
Access the full letter here.