Visitors are now allowed to unmask when in a veteran’s room or visiting with one outside. Image: Bruce VanLoon/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe VA has further relaxed mask-wearing requirements at its medical facilities, one of the few federal workplace settings in which those policies imposed due to the pandemic have remained in effect.
The department said it is making the change “to reflect our new reality” now that the public health emergency has ended, although adding that it still will require masking of employees, patients and visitors in the “highest-risk areas and situations.”
Those will include transplant units, dialysis, chemotherapy units, emergency and urgent care, open bay medical intensive care units, and spinal cord injury and community living centers. (Visitors, however, are now allowed to unmask in those settings when in a veteran’s room or visiting with one outside.)
Masks also continue to be required for those with a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection or other viral respiratory infection; healthcare personnel upon request of a patient, caregiver, or family member; or as determined necessary by local leadership.
OPM Advises Agencies on Conducting RIFs During Shutdown
Updated Shutdown Contingency Plans Show Range of Impacts
Use Shutdown as Justification for More RIFs, OMB Tells Agencies
Unions Win a Round in Court Disputes over Anti-Representation Orders
Deferred Resignation Periods End for Many; Overall 12% Drop
Senate Bill Would Override Trump Orders against Unions
See also,
How to Handle Taxes Owed on TSP Roth Conversions? Use a Ladder
The Best Ages for Federal Employees to Retire
Best States to Retire for Federal Retirees: 2025
