More hospitals in Georgia and across the country are again requiring masks and limiting visitors as cases and hospitalizations rise from a trio of seasonal viruses.
New York City last week instituted a mask mandate for the city’s 11 public hospitals. Similar measures were ordered last week at some hospitals in Los Angeles and Massachusetts. Some Georgia hospitals say they never stopped requiring doctors and other hospital staff to wear a mask when dealing with patients. Now they’re beginning to bring back masking requirements for visitors or limiting visitors to patient rooms too.
With the ending of the COVID-19 public health emergency last May, hospitals across the country, including local hospitals like Emory Healthcare, dropped their universal mask requirements. While the decision to wear a mask is optional in many public areas of Emory hospital and clinics, they are still required by health care workers during direct patient contact with a hospitalized patient, according to Emory’s masking guidelines posted online. They are also required in treatment areas for people who are immunocompromised such as patients undergoing chemotherapy.
At Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, their rule hasn’t changed and they continue to require all workers to wear masks when they are involved with patient care.
Meanwhile, Wellstar MCG Health and the Children’s Hospital of Georgia in Augusta started limiting visitors due to the spike in flu cases. Children visitors are not allowed above the second floor of either the adult or children’s hospitals where in-patient rooms are located. Labor & Delivery also has limited visitation times for siblings of newborns. Children visiting family family members in Labor and Delivery will also need to be screened for respiratory illnesses.
“Influenza cases are on the rise in our community. Often, these and other respiratory illnesses begin spreading through schools and childcare facilities first. Our younger patients and guests are at greater risk if they are exposed to the flu,” the hospital officials said in announcing the plan.
Check hospital websites for the latest visitor guidelines and mask requirements.
Flu and COVID infections have been increasing for weeks, with high levels of flu-like illness reported in 31 states just before Christmas. Health officials predict infections will grow in many states well into January.
Georgia is among seven states with the highest levels of flu-like illnesses, according to the latest surveillance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“What we’re seeing right now, in the first week of January, is really an acceleration — of flu cases, in particular,” said Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the CDC.
There is some good news. Flu and COVID-19 cases may peak by the end of the month and then drop, Cohen said. Though the flu has been skyrocketing, this year’s cases are being caused by a strain that usually doesn’t cause as many deaths and hospitalizations as some other versions. What’s more, signs suggest current flu vaccines are well-matched to the strain.
“I don’t think it’s going to be overwhelming,” said Dr. William Schaffner, Vanderbilt University infectious diseases expert. He deemed the current season “moderately severe.”
The CDC is pointing the public to an agency website where people can look up their county, which can help them make decisions about whether to wear masks or take other precautions.
New COVID hospitalizations are up in Georgia, but they remain lower than previous holiday seasons. In Georgia, new COVID hospitalizations totaled 501 for the week ending Dec. 23. That’s up from 472 the previous week, a 6% increase. Nationally, new COVID hospitalizations increased by 17% over the same period.
The CDC’s lookup indicates Fulton County has rising cases of flu and COVID and falling cases of RSV. It also shows hospitalization rates for COVID are low in Fulton County. But COVID hospitalization rates are higher in more than a dozen counties, especially in a cluster in southeastern Georgia around Savannah.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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