Recent expert group reports have seen the light in which the corona pandemic is described as shifting from a pandemic into an endemic phase. An endemic virus is constant in a population with largely predictable patterns. Endemic comes from the Greek word endemos, which means “in population”.

In Western Europe more than 95% ** of the population has either a) gone through the infection and/ or b) has been vaccinated. Which has resulted in a certain level of protection against severe effects of COVID.
** The global data show already 90% according to a recent WHO report.

In the case of COVID19 endemic has become a subjective concept. It implies that the virus is still going around but the society is no longer willing to take more measures in order to do something about it.

Various laundries have asked if and when the currently in-use COVID 19 protocol could expire – based on the latest expert reports.

The answer to this question varies!

For all Western European countries and the USA, the answer is yes. We are of the opinion that the COVID-19 protocol for laundries is no longer valid.

For those countries where the endemic phase has not started yet, we will keep track of the developments and will come back to you in the coming months. The reason being that in some  countries – those with a poor vaccination coverage – the virus is allowed to continue at an epidemic level.

EXAMPLES OF TIMING

USA – White House officials expect to shift to an endemic phase in mid-May 2023.

GERMANY – Each state has its own set of COVID Measures. The word endemic has not been stamped yet, but the last COVID protection measure has been dropped: wearing a mask in a hospital or care-home environment. So, in real life the endemic situation is present.

The Netherlands – Last week the Outbreak Management Team has advised the government that the endemic-phase of COVID has started. It is expected that the government will adopt this advice.

BACKGROUNDS:
If a patient with corona is admitted to a hospital and this patient has corona, he or she will still be quarantined. But that also applies if someone with flu symptoms comes in. The difference now is that – in those countries where the endemic phase has been announced – hospital staff are no longer required to test for Covid if they have a cold. And there is also no obligation for hospital employees to quarantine at home.

What remains are those hygiene guidelines that were already valid BEFORE the corona outbreak. In particular about the use of protective equipment such as face masks and gloves.

What does it mean for the health care laundries if and when it is decided  to end with the corona-protocol ?

The corona-infected linen no longer has to be delivered to the laundry in specially labelled bags.

However, it remains unchanged that other infectious diseases must be delivered in special bags, such as before corona.

What is still expected of the laundry staff?

Also, in the laundry everyone should apply those hygiene measures that were already applied before the corona outbreak: As extensively described in the CERTEX / CERCLEAN guidelines.

The use of personal protective equipment is mandatory when sorting healthcare linen – as well as when manually loading this linen into the washing machines.

What do staff members have to do when they are sick?

Expert advice refers to standing policy for all common infectious diseases: stay at home in case of complaints and avoid contact with vulnerable people. And if the latter fails, wear a mask. These experts  realize that hardly anyone did this before corona. Sniffling at work was a sign of work ethics. Under the motto: if you have a cold, you are not sick.

Nevertheless, these experts point out that Covid cannot be compared to other respiratory infections such as flu. It affects more people, has greater consequences for care and causes many more long-term complaints, of which we know little. In a small country like the Netherlands, we note that  currently no fewer than 1500 healthcare workers are at home with long Covid.

The motto remains: Avoid contact with people with a fragile health.  And this in turn is not different from a situation during a serious flu outbreak.