Hospitals across the U.S. are increasingly taking extraordinary steps to allow nurses and other staff infected with the coronavirus to continue working with mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.

The move is in response to severe hospital staffing shortages and a high number of cases caused by the omicron variant.

California health authorities announced over the weekend that hospital workers who have tested positive but are asymptomatic can continue to work. Some hospitals in Rhode Island and Arizona have also told employees they can continue to work if they have no or only mild symptoms.

The highly contagious variant of omicron is averaging more than 700,000 new cases of COVID-19 a day in the U.S., breaking a record set a year ago. The number of Americans hospitalized with the virus is about 108,000, just down from a peak of 124,000 last January.

Many hospitals are not only overwhelmed with cases, but are severely understaffed with so many employees contracting COVID-19.

At the same time, omicron appeared to cause less disease than the delta variant.

Last month, the CDC said asymptomatic health care workers could return to work after seven days of testing negative, but quarantines could be further shortened if staffing shortages occur.

France announced last week that healthcare workers with mild or asymptomatic symptoms would be allowed to continue treating patients rather than quarantine.

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In the Phoenix area, Dignity Health, a large hospital operator, sent a memo to staff saying those with the virus who feel well enough to work may ask their managers for approval to restart caring for patients.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure our employees can safely return to work while protecting our patients and employees from the spread of COVID-19,” Dignity Health said in a statement.

Dignity Health helps Arizona virus-positive hospital workers

In California, the Department of Public Health said the new policy was prompted by a “severe staffing shortage.” It requires hospitals to make every effort to bring in staff from outside staffing agencies to fill vacancies.

In addition, infected workers will be required to wear N95 masks for extra protection and should be assigned to treat other COVID-19 positive patients, the department said.

The California Nurses Association, which has 100,000 members, opposed the decision, warning it would lead to more infections.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state health leaders “put the needs of healthcare companies ahead of patient and worker safety,” Cathy Kennedy, the association’s president, said in a statement. “We want to take care of our patients and make them better — not potentially infecting them.”

Earlier this month, in Rhode Island, a state mental hospital and a rehabilitation center allowed workers who tested positive for COVID-19 but were asymptomatic to work.