Officials said the measures are part of new routine procedures as hospitals work to prevent and combat the spread of the virus.
ST. LOUIS — BJC Healthcare announced the following: strengthen mask mandate For staff from Wednesday, December 13th.
The mandate, which goes into effect next week, will only cover a portion of the roughly 30,000 employees at 14 hospitals who interact with patients in clinical settings.
of St. Louis County Health Department The country is reporting nearly double the number of newly diagnosed coronavirus cases in just one month. On Nov. 5, 2023, the average number of cases diagnosed in the county was about 80, but on Dec. 6, that number jumped to nearly 170 cases diagnosed in a single day.
Dr. Hilary Babcock, an infectious disease physician at the University of Washington and chief quality officer at BJC Healthcare, said the number of coronavirus cases would likely be higher with at-home testing.
“This is also what we see in RSV [Respiratory Syncytial Virus]'' said Dr. Babcock. “Flu season has begun. These numbers are also trending upwards. Our employee, patient and community numbers are rising again.”
The CDC classifies RSV as a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild cold-like symptoms, similar to the flu. [influenza] Or the new coronavirus.
Dr. Babcock emphasized that the best way to keep your family safe during the holidays is to “wear a mask when you're in crowded places,” especially when visiting someone who is immunocompromised.
“If you're flying to visit someone, wear a mask to avoid bringing items you pick up at the airport or on the plane as unexpected gifts for the family you're visiting.”
We reached out to other local hospital systems to see if they would implement mask mandates for their employees, but have not yet heard back.
5 On Your Side received the following initial statement from BJC Healthcare.
BJC Healthcare regularly monitors community transmission rates and may choose to temporarily increase mask requirements for staff if transmission rates are particularly high. Starting Wednesday, Dec. 13, BJC employees will be required to wear masks in patient care settings to help reduce the spread of infection during the current peak season for the respiratory virus. This does not affect our guidelines for patients and visitors, however we do encourage the wearing of masks and have masks available at the entrance to our facility. We will continue to assess infection rates and relax these requirements as needed. In the meantime, stay home if you're sick, wear a mask in public if you or someone you live with is at high risk, and get vaccinated.
During the week of December 2nd, CDC reported Vernon and Cedar counties have the highest number of cases in Missouri. Both counties reported 20 hospitalizations during the week.
There were 621 new hospitalizations in Missouri during the same week, according to the CDC. Additionally, 489 people are already hospitalized.
“BJC Healthcare regularly monitors community transmission rates and may choose to temporarily increase mask-wearing requirements for staff if transmission rates are particularly high,” a BJC representative said. said.
An end date for the mask requirement has not been announced.
To find out where you can get a coronavirus test, click here here.
