March 31, 2020 message from AFGE Council 172 President Harrell Willis to Defense Commissary Agency employees:
COVID – 19 is a new disease and there is limited information regarding risk factors for severe disease. Based on currently available information and clinical expertise, older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID – 19.
Based upon available information to date, those at high-risk for severe illness from COVID – 19 include:
- People aged 65 years and older
- People who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility
- Other high-risk conditions could include:
- People with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
- People who have serious heart conditions
- People who are immunocompromised including cancer treatment
- People of any age with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI]>40) or certain underlying medical conditions, particularly if not well controlled, such as those with diabetes, renal failure, or liver disease might also be at risk.
- People who are pregnant should be monitored since they are known to be at risk with severe viral illness, however, to date data on COVID – 19 has not shown increased risk
Many conditions can cause a person to be immunocompromised, including cancer treatment, bone marrow or organ transplantation, immune deficiencies, poorly controlled HIV or AIDS, and prolonged use of corticosteroids and other immune weakening medications.
If you have been diagnosed medically with one of these conditions you can request to be out on administrative “weather and safety” leave. If you have not been diagnosed with one of these high risk categories from a medical professional you should not be requesting and self-certifying that you have one of these conditions to be authorized this type of leave. High blood pressure in and of itself does not qualify unless it is directly related to one of these listed conditions. If DoD or the Agency feel they need to request documentation to substantiate this requested leave, they have the ability to request that now or in the future. We do not want our members to be placed in a position of being accused of falsifying a medical condition to obtain paid leave. This is not fair to the other members who are reporting for duty as required and scheduled. We do understand these are troubling times so I encourage you to call us with any concerns you may have and we will be glad to assist you.
