A major health care provider in Arizona will allow employees with mild or no symptoms of COVID-19 to continue working at its hospitals and facilities.

As the omicron variant spreads rapidly in Maricopa County and is expected to continue to increase, Dignity Health officials said they have instituted “Tier 3” federal guidance for healthcare workers infected with the coronavirus.

“These guidelines allow COVID-19 positive asymptomatic or mildly improving health care workers to work without a quarantine period,” Dignity Health officials said in a statement. “We are doing everything we can to ensure our employees can stay safe. return to work safely, while protecting our patients and staff from the spread of COVID-19.”

A memo sent to Dignity Health staff said those infected with the coronavirus and feeling well enough to work may apply to their managers for work permits.

However, these employees are required to wear N-95 masks for 10 days after testing positive.

The omicron variant spreads more easily than other coronavirus strains and has become dominant in many countries. It is also more likely to infect those who have been vaccinated or who have previously been infected with the virus.

Hospitals across the state are still crowded, despite early research suggesting that omicron is less likely to cause serious illness and hospitalization than previous delta variants.

On Sunday, Arizona health officials reported 69 more deaths from COVID-19 as the omicron variant continued to spread.

The state also reported another 15,850 confirmed infections.

It follows a total of 88 deaths and 16,504 cases on Saturday, the most reported cases in Arizona in a single day of the year.

During the pandemic, the state has counted fewer than 1.5 million cases and fewer than 25,000 deaths.

Arizona’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has tripled over the past two weeks, from 2,945.6 on Dec. 23 to 9,091.6 on Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

During the same period, the state’s daily average of deaths fell from 60.9 to 55.3.