COVID-19 Workplace Questions - Fraser Health Staff, Medical Staff, and Patient Partners

COVID-19 testing is recommended and prioritized for the following groups with NEW ONSET respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms (includes fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, loss of sense of smell, loss of appetite, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fatigue, and myalgia):

• Residents and staff of Long Term Care Facilities
• Patients requiring or likely requiring admission to hospital, and patients needing to enter hospital for ongoing treatment (including pregnant women in their 3rd trimester and people receiving chemotherapy, radiation, or hemodialysis)
• Health care workers, including community pharmacists
• Residents of remote, isolated or Indigenous communities
• People who are homeless or have unstable housing
• People living and working in congregate settings such as shelters, work-camps, correctional facilities, group homes, assisted living facilities and seniors’ residences
• Essential services providers, including first responders (police, firefighters, paramedics)
• Returning travellers identified at a point of entry to Canada
• Individuals part of an investigation of a cluster or outbreak (based on the direction from Public Health) 

For symptomatic individuals that do not fall in the above listed categories, physicians and nurse practitioners can order a test for COVID-19 based on clinical judgement. 

False negative results can occur early in the course of infection and in severely infected patients. This implies that a negative RNA test does not definitively rule out COVID-19 infection. Due to the possibility of a false negative result, even patients who test negative for COVID-19 should continue to self-isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms. 

If a patient who has tested negative has a clinical presentation that is highly suspicious for COVID-19 and there is no alternative diagnosis, (for example, has fever, hypoxia, and bilateral patchy infiltrates with negative influenza and bacterial cultures), repeat their nasopharyngeal swab or send a sputum/endotracheal aspirate.

Our Exposure Control Plan (ECP) outlines measures aimed at preventing exposures to, and reducing the transmission of, COVID-19 within Fraser Health workplaces and at all points of care.

Read the COVID-19 safety plan here. 

When a worker contracts COVID-19 as a direct result of their employment, they are entitled to compensation if the following conditions are met:

• A medical diagnosis in a medical report, or
• Non-medical factual evidence where other evidence establishes the existence of COVID-19
• The nature of the worker’s employment created a risk of contracting the disease significantly greater than the ordinary exposure risk of the public at large.

Claims submitted for Covid-19 contracted through a work-related exposure are adjudicated on a case-by-case basis.  WorkSafeBC will look at details such as whether the worker has a diagnosis of COVID-19, their symptoms and their employment activities, including actual or known exposure to a positive case in the workplace.

If you believe you contracted COVID-19 while at work, you may file a claim to determine if you are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

Report any COVID-19 exposures or breaches in PPE to the Workplace Health Call Centre as you would any exposure or incident. The number is 1-866-922-9464.

Fraser Health must be able to respond quickly to changes in acuity and patient needs at all of our sites.  Staff may be requested to work at an alternate unit/site, which may provide a different level of care than your home unit/site.  Any employee that is requested to be redeployed, will receive orientation. Although you may be working in an area or nursing model that is new to you, the nursing process, professional and practice standards remain unchanged.

The health and safety of our residents, their families and our staff is our number one priority. We continue to follow direction from the Provincial Health Officer and other public health officials to avoid transmission of the COVID-19 virus within facilities across Fraser Health. 

You can learn more on the single site order information page.

We follow the direction HEABC has provided employers regarding COVID-19 (C19) leave. As an overall summary:

Employees qualify for C-19 Leave where the employee:  

• Is in self-isolation or quarantine;

• Needs to stay home to care for a child under 19 years old, a dependent adult who is unable to withdraw from the charge of the employee and is under the day-to-day care of the employee, or prescribed person (including because of the closure of a school, daycare, or similar facility);

• Is directed to stay home due to concerns about exposure; or

• Is outside of BC and cannot return home due to travel or border restrictions. 

If unable to attend work due to care of your children, you may access paid leave banks such as vacation and banked overtime. In these circumstances, the time is not a paid general leave or sick leave. If you do not have vacation or banked overtime and cannot attend work, you will be on an unpaid leave of absence. 

Asymptomatic health care workers who are required to remain at home to care for sick family members may use vacation and banked overtime. You do not qualify for a general paid leave or sick leave. If you do not have banks and cannot attend work, you will be on an unpaid leave of absence. 

Note that a C-19 leave is in the same category as maternity or parental leaves, therefore, benefits and accruals continue. Under the C-19 leave, employer-paid benefits, seniority and service for the purpose of increment progression, severance and annual vacation entitlement continue.  A note, employees under the Community Bargaining Association collective agreement stop accruing vacation pay but will accrue vacation time. 

The C-19 leave continues for as long as the circumstances giving rise to the leave continue to apply. However, once cleared to return to work following recovery, the end of a self-isolation period, or the reopening of schools, the circumstances which supported the C-19 Leave end, and the employee would return to work.  If an employee is already on a paid leave, for example sick or general paid leave, the employee remains on the appropriate paid leave for as long as he or she meets those criteria. 

Yes. All employees on a COVID-19 leave continue to receive benefit entitlements under their respective collective agreements. 

You are entitled to stay on COVID-19 leave for as long as the circumstances giving rise to the leave continue to apply.  However, once you are cleared to return to work following recovery, the end of a self-isolation period, or the reopening of schools, Fraser Health can require you to return to work.

If you are already on a paid leave (for example, sick or general paid leave), you should remain on the appropriate paid leave for as long as you meet those criteria. If you have any questions, please connect with your HR Client Partner.

No, Fraser Health recognizes that your vacation this year may look a little different but time away from work is important for all of us to rest and recharge.

Please refer to your collective agreement to determine whether carry over is allowed and how much is permitted to be carried over, if any.

Cancellation of vacation is not permitted unless there is mutual agreement between yourself and the manager based on operational considerations. Please follow normal processes for any changes/cancellations as per your collective agreement.

No you don’t, please reschedule those hours with your manager by May 22.

Now is the time to submit all outstanding vacation balances including any vacation that was cancelled before May 11. Please submit requests directly to your manager:

• If your vacation was cancelled prior to May 11 – submit a request to reschedule those hours by May 22
• For NBA, FBA, and HSPBA employees - 100% of vacation is to be booked by August 1. Any vacation that not scheduled as per the dates above will be scheduled in August.
• For CBA employees – Any vacation that exceeds the permitted five (5) days carryover is to be booked by October 1. Any vacation that not scheduled as per the dates above will be scheduled in October.

Please feel free to reschedule with your manager as per your collective agreement.

Please speak directly with your manager.

Pregnancy does not increase the risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 but it does increase the risk of serious illness from COVID-19 infection. Most pregnant workers using appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), practicing good hand hygiene and working in an area with appropriate environmental cleaning should be able to continue to work until they deliver. Two doses of a Health Canada approved COVID-19 vaccine provides excellent protection against severe illness and hospitalization, including for pregnant women. Discuss your pregnancy and work situation with your health care provider as there is no standard occupational guidance for pregnant health care workers regarding work restrictions.

If you are pregnant and are Fraser Health staff or medical staff, you can continue to work if you are asymptomatic and not deemed a COVID-19 contact by Public Health. You should use the same PPE precautions that are recommended for all other Fraser Health staff and medical staff (please see the related Q & A). We encourage you to speak with your manager if you feel you have any increased risk due to your circumstances.

If your doctor indicates that you require any workplace accommodations please submit your request to askDM@fraserhealth.ca.

Please visit the BC Centre for Disease Control for more information about Pregnancy and COVID-19 and Planning for vaccine.

Your safety and wellness is a priority for us. We encourage you to speak with your supervisor to identify whether any modifications can be made within your workplace. If the workplace cannot be modified then we will accommodate you in a more appropriate work setting.

We are working to make virtual care tools widely available for staff and medical staff using Zoom, FaceTime and WhatsApp. This will allow for surveillance and monitoring capability, provider-to-provider consultation and patient care. This will free-up space at acute and community sites, reduce the movement of people between locations and optimize our clinical expertise, while still ensuring that we continue to provide patient-centred care. 

Zoom is for clinical purposes only, please do not request Zoom if your requirement is not for direct patient care. For business or administrative purposes, please continue to use Skype. To save network resources, please use your mobile device or home network (if working from home).

Please see the guidelines for video visits in the COVID-19 section of Pulse (Please note: this is an internal link; you must be signed into the Fraser Health network to access). 

In response to COVID-19 Fraser Heath launched Zoom services to enable virtual visits for patient care. We have worked with health authority security teams provincially to enhance security and patient privacy for Zoom.

To specifically address the risk of Zoom-bombing (where uninvited attendees join and disrupt your meeting), we will be enforcing two new security measures starting tomorrow.

1. Meeting Passwords

2. Waiting Rooms

This will change a few aspects of how you host meetings and how participants join meetings. We have updated documentation on Pulse with the additional steps (note: internal link - must be signed in to the Fraser Health network to access).

Settings protecting patients:

1. Passwords are turned on
   This provides another layer of security, to discourage Zoom-Bombers.

2. Waiting Rooms are turned on
   This allows you to screen who is let into the meeting. The host lets them in.

3. Recordings are disabled
   Zoom recordings have been disabled to protect patient privacy.

You can also download and print the Zoom Security Best Practices infographic.

To reduce the risk of COVID-19 in our workplace, we have expanded our capacity to support you to work from home where possible. Consideration for working remotely is based on job roles and responsibilities, availability of required equipment and the IT system’s overall capacity to support remote access. Please speak to your supervisor to discuss this option. 

Cyber criminals are registering and using COVID-19 related website names to steal usernames and passwords, commit fraud, and launch malware related attacks. 

Our cybersecurity team has listed some simple steps to working securely – bearing in mind that you are the best defense against cybercrime. 

You can stay vigilant by:

• Avoiding clicking on attachments or links embedded in email messages (for example with subject lines purporting to contain information related to COVID-19 or Coronavirus from untrusted or unknown sources)

• Recognizing spam messages purporting to be from official sources or your manager and using subject line themes associated with COVID-19 or Coronavirus

• Be aware of targeted attacks that may convincingly appear as if from a colleague – if the request is unusual and unexpected, verify using another form of communication

• Verifying any unrecognized senders using alternate communication methods but not using the contact information provided in a message.

Software updates:

• When at home, don’t power down or disconnect your computer at the end of each week day so that necessary updates can occur overnight.  

Devices: 

• Please don’t allow family and friends to use your work devices. 

Report phishing: 

• If you find a phishing email please report it – by forwarding the email to spam@hssbc.ca. The email will be analysed, any outgoing access blocked as required and the email scrubbed out of the email system.   

Report Security Incidents:

• If you notice any unexpected actions on your computer, we are here to help. Please report it to the Service Desk as a potential security incident and wait for instructions from the Service Desk.

• Service Desk: 604-585-5544

Many of you have raised concerns about the availability of child care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Child care is necessary to ensure essential service workers are able to support community efforts to battle the pandemic. The government is putting measures in place to ensure that appropriate, safe care is available for children who need it. 

Essential workers can fill out a form to identify their need for urgent child care for children aged zero to five years. You can access the forms online or by calling 1-888-338-6622 and selecting option 4. 

For child care support for children ages five to 12, please contact your local school, school board or Child Care Resource and Referral Society. Child Care Resource and Referral Society support parents and caregivers by providing referrals to child care centres with available spaces in your geographic area. We understand that there are currently spaces available in child care centres across the region. For more information, please visit Child Care Resource and Referral Society.

Child Care Resource and Referral Centres in the Fraser Region

For more information or contacts for other locations, please visit Child Care Resource Referral Centres.

Childcare BC

Use the Child Care Map to search licensed providers in your community. For more information, please visit Childcare BC.

Fraser Health Community Care Facilities Licensing

Community Care Facilities Licensing inspects licensed child care facilities to make sure they comply with regulatory requirements. Routine inspections and complaint summaries are posted on the Fraser Health website to assist families in making informed child care choices. For more information, please visit fraserhealth.ca/childcare.

Volunteer Options (for nursing staff)

Nursing student volunteers are organizing students to support nursing staff during the COVID-19 response. Student volunteers are able to provide short term child care up to a maximum of 15 hours. Due to a very limited supply of volunteers, this option is to be used only when no other resources are available. More information will be made available.

Any employee who needs to stay home to care for a child, dependent adult or prescribed person (including because of the closure of a school, daycare, or similar facility) is eligible for COVID-19 leave. Please discuss with your supervisor. See more details about COVID-19 leave in section below. 

Please first try to access the child care resources available as noted in the response to the question ‘What support is available for staff with children’ above. 

An employee who is unable to attend work because they are required to care for their children may access paid leave banks such as vacation and banked overtime. In these circumstances, employees do not qualify for a paid general leave or sick leave. If they do not have a vacation or banked overtime and cannot attend work, they must be placed on an unpaid leave of absence. Asymptomatic health care workers who are required to remain at home to care for sick family members may use vacation and banked overtime. They do not qualify for a general paid leave or sick leave. If they do not have banks and cannot attend work, they must be placed on an unpaid leave of absence.

The Regional Emergency Operations Centre provides daily updates on COVID-19 along with our regional case numbers. These are also available on Pulse (must be logged in to the Fraser Health network to view).

All sites are engaged and proactively working to respond to COVID-19. If you have questions about our response to COVID-19 please speak to your supervisor, ask a question on the Slido 24/7 questions page (at www.slido.com, enter the code #fraserhealth) or join the weekly staff and medical staff virtual meeting.

All of our sites have pandemic plans, which were being reviewed and revised as the situation around the world developed.