In some places around Chicago, like hospitals and doctors’ offices, they’re asking people to wear masks again. This is because there’s been an increase in respiratory viruses like the flu, COVID-19, and RSV.
Rush hospital recently decided that patients, visitors, and staff must wear approved face coverings in places where people interact, like waiting areas and patient rooms. Other health care systems, like Cook County Health and Endeavor Health, made similar rules last month.
Dr. David Nguyen from Rush explained that they’re particularly worried about the flu. Even though COVID-19 and RSV are still concerns, it seems like those cases have stopped rising. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks and keeping a distance seemed to really help control the flu and RSV. Now, the new mask policy aims to prevent the spread of all these infections.
The number of flu patients in Chicago’s intensive care units more than doubled from early December to the end of December. Emergency rooms in the state also saw double the number of flu patients in the last two weeks of December. At the same time, Chicago hospitals were admitting around 30 COVID-19 patients every day.
The Illinois Department of Public Health recommended in mid-December that health care facilities do more to control respiratory viruses. They especially want this in places where there’s a higher risk, like procedural areas, intensive care units, and emergency departments.
Different hospitals have different rules. UChicago Medicine, for example, has stuck to its mask policy from September, requiring all employees and visitors with symptoms to wear masks and encouraging others to do the same. Northwestern Medicine only requires masks for visitors and patients showing symptoms like cough, sneezing, sore throat, fever, and runny nose. Loyola Medicine, on the other hand, wants everyone in its facilities to wear masks, no matter if they have symptoms or not.
Cook County Health changed its visitor policy last month, allowing two visitors per patient in inpatient units and one visitor per patient in the emergency trauma unit and outpatient areas.
They emphasize that wearing masks is an easy way to reduce the spread of these viruses. Also, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu is a good idea, and there are vaccines available for RSV as well.Remember, it’s never too late to get vaccinated!
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