A cook at a hospital cafeteria has just been diagnosed with Norovirus, but is not displaying any symptoms. What must the manager do?

A cook at a hospital cafeteria has just been diagnosed with Norovirus, but is not displaying any symptoms. What must the manager do?

• A. Let him work with gloves
• B. Exclude him from work
• C. Move to non-food area
• D. Take no action

Answer: (B)

Norovirus is highly contagious and can be shed by people who are infected, sometimes even before symptoms appear and after they’ve begun to recover. In a hospital cafeteria, this creates a serious risk of contaminating food and surfaces that could expose vulnerable patients and staff. Because gloves alone don’t reliably prevent transmission and moving the person away from food areas still allows potential contamination, the safest, correct action is to exclude the cook from food-handling duties until health guidelines permit his return. This protects patients and coworkers and aligns with standard infection-control practices.

Norovirus is highly contagious and can be shed by people who are infected, sometimes even before symptoms appear and after they’ve begun to recover. In a hospital cafeteria, this creates a serious risk of contaminating food and surfaces that could expose vulnerable patients and staff. Because gloves alone don’t reliably prevent transmission and moving the person away from food areas still allows potential contamination, the safest, correct action is to exclude the cook from food-handling duties until health guidelines permit his return. This protects patients and coworkers and aligns with standard infection-control practices.