What Do Employers Need to Know?

portrait of laura radke enclosed in blue circle

By Laura Radke, MD, Medical Director of Workforce Health Occupational Health Services

As the COVID-19 pandemic is working through its second year in the United States, we have seen some changes in the virus, vaccine recommendations, and advice for other measures to control infection. Since many individuals in the U.S. are now vaccinated and about 50% of those have had at least one booster, the risk of death and hospitalization has decreased over time. At the same time, variant viruses have emerged that are more easily transmitted, and many people have now had COVID-19 at least once in the course of the pandemic.

In late September, new recommendations were also provided with regard to masking and quarantine/isolation. Community levels of COVID-19 infection (which are county-specific) are to be used as a guide for mask wear. In locations where infection rates are medium to high, masking is recommended. Those exposed to COVID-19 no longer need to quarantine but instead should wear a well-fitting face mask for 10 days, watch for signs of infection, and should get tested on day 6, regardless of symptoms. Individuals who test positive or are sick with COVID-19 should stay home for at least 5 days and should use their symptoms to determine when they can end isolation. Those with minimal or no symptoms can return to work and school on day 6.

Laura

I am a native of Milwaukee and have spent my entire life in the metropolitan area. I attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Target MD Medical Honors Program, graduating in 1986. Through this program, I started medical school at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1985 and graduated in 1989. Given my love for the area, I decided to stay and completed my Internal Medicine residency and Infectious Disease fellowship through the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals. I was initially board certified in Internal Medicine and subsequently Infectious Diseases. While working in an infectious disease private practice, I was approached by the healthcare system and asked to become Medical Director for employee health. Over the next few years, my work evolved to include travel medicine and ultimately the opening of a clinic for external clients. Since then, my practice has increasingly focused on the care of workers. I became a Medical Review Officer in 2000 and maintained that certification to date. Having worked for ProHealth Care in Waukesha, WI for 12 years as medical director of employee health and occupational health, I came to Froedtert in 2018, rejoining colleagues I worked with 20 years earlier in the role of Medical Director of Occupational Health Services. I am a certified DOT medical examiner and am active in the ACOEM in the Medical Center Occupational Health and Public Safety Medicine special interest sections. I currently have oversight for 7 occupational health clinics serving external clients in Southeast Wisconsin as well as our own employees and those of Wisconsin Diagnostic Labs and the Medical College of Wisconsin, including their learners and housestaff.