Posting staff test results in a group chat

Overview

A health office proposed posting a list of employees with positive COVID-19 tests in a 250-person work chat. The NPC advised against it: a majority vote did not authorize disclosure of others’ results, and workplace consent was a poor substitute for the defined contact-tracing procedure.

Practice implications

Parao Law practice guidance

For physicians

Notify exposed staff through the approved occupational-health pathway without broadcasting a named test-result list. Keep clinical results with authorized personnel and provide practical exposure guidance to those who need it. Do not use a staff poll as permission to disclose a colleague’s diagnosis.

For lawyers

Apply the relevant public-health rules and identify who may receive identifiable results. Design a narrow notification process, limit group-chat membership and avoid relying on consent where a power imbalance calls its freedom into question. The opinion concerns the COVID-19 procedure and stated facts.