[ad_1]
UW Health and UnityPoint Health-Meriter on Tuesday will resume requiring staff, patients and visitors to wear face masks in clinic settings such as waiting rooms, scheduling areas and exam rooms, the hospitals announced Monday.
As respiratory illnesses begin to spread in western Washington, health officials are turning to COVID-type precautions to clamp down on airborne infection.
Hospital officials cited a recent rise of COVID-19, flu and RSV cases in Dane County, as expected this time of year.
“Health systems are already feeling the impact of this respiratory season,” Dr. Dan Shirley, UW Health’s medical director of infection prevention, said in a statement. “Emergency department visits for respiratory illness are climbing as are COVID-19 hospitalizations.”
Masks will not be required in other areas, such as cafeterias, lobbies, elevators and administrative spaces, UW and Meriter said.
Providers, staff, patients and visitors already were being asked to wear masks in patient and procedure rooms, inpatient settings and high-risk areas such as transplant clinics, the Carbone Cancer Center, urgent care locations and emergency departments.
People are also reading…
“Together, we can lessen the number of potential exposures, infections, treatment, hospitalizations and poor outcomes in our patients,” said Dr. Joseph McBride, Meriter’s medical director of infection prevention.
SSM Health, which owns St. Mary’s Hospital in Wisconsin, is not changing its masking guidelines but is monitoring the situation, spokesperson Kim Sveum said.
Public Health Madison and Dane County’s respiratory dashboard, last updated Thursday, reports high levels of flu and RSV and low levels of COVID-19. Levels of COVID-19 in wastewater have been rising recently statewide, and to some extent in Madison, according to the state Department of Health Services.
Flu-like illness was moderate in all parts of Wisconsin the week ending Dec. 9, with more than 10% of tests for flu, COVID-19 and RSV coming back positive, DHS said in a respiratory virus report Friday.
As of Sunday, 390 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide, up 13 from the day before but down 18 from a week earlier, according to the Wisconsin Hospital Association. A year earlier, 559 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19.
[ad_2]
Source link
