Around a thousand health care workers are in isolation due to exposure to COVID-19.

That’s according to the president of NAPE, who represents workers in that sector.

Jerry Earle says many facilities, including the Miller Centre, are working with reduced staffing levels due to the number of isolations. He says Omicron is an entirely different beast.

Last wave, Earle says, they had only a couple cases in individual facilities to deal with. This time around, he says it’s a better question as to which facilities don’t have an outbreak.

Earle says with staff being redeployed, the public can help protect workers by making the difficult decision to stay home and follow COVID protocol.