Covid-positive nurses are working in NSW hospitals due to severe staffing shortages

Guardian Australia has been contacted by multiple nurses working across several hospitals in the state who are alarmed at finding themselves working alongside Covid-positive colleagues, as 2,500 health workers are in isolation across NSW.

The public hospitals span three local health districts in NSW and include major Sydney hospitals and smaller regional facilities.

All of the nurses say they had received unofficial, verbal advice from their hospitals in recent days that Covid-positive nurses could leave their mandated isolation to work, provided they were asymptomatic and wore personal protective equipment.

However, some claimed they saw Covid-positive nurses on wards with obvious symptoms, including coughing and sneezing.

At one Sydney hospital, the Covid-positive nurses appeared to be limited to working in Covid wards. However, at other hospitals, nurses said they were treating non-Covid patients and interacting with Covid-negative staff.

However, a NSW Health spokesperson confirmed that Covid-positive nurses do not fall under this exemption.

Nurses who expressed concern about allowing Covid-positive colleagues to return to work stressed that the advice was given in an unofficial capacity, as managers were left with few other options to ensure patients could be cared for.

The nurses requested their names and employers remain confidential to avoid identifying them.

The revelation comes days after Guardian Australia obtained a leaked memo that revealed critically understaffed public hospitals in NSW were planning to fly in nurses from overseas.

Desperate attempts also included managers begging local staff to cancel leave and offering $250 daily incentives on top of public holiday penalties.

Meanwhile, the western NSW LHD is offering nurses $823 a week on top of their wage to work in the region during January.

However, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary, Brett Holmes, accused governments of presenting an overly optimistic version of the state of the health system.

Holmes added the practice risked spreading Covid to vulnerable patients in hospital for unrelated reasons.

Do you know more about pressure in the healthcare system? Contact elias.visontay@theguardian.com. You can remain anonymous.