Covid-19 Is Back, Outbreak Reported In Five Countries
Mask mandates return at some US hospitals following reported several case of covid-19 and related flu.
In US, at least four states have reinstated mask mandate following spike in case of covid-19, seasonal flu and other respiratory illness.
New York, California, Illinois and Massachusetts health care facilities have made wearing of masks mandatory among patients and service providers.
New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan told WABC TV on Wednesday that mask mandates had resumed at all 11 of the city’s public hospitals, 30 health centers and five long-term care facilities.
“What we don’t want is staffing shortages, right? When we saw the omicron wave in 2022, the biggest issues were not only people getting sick, but that we had a lot of frontline health workers, they were out with COVID,” Vasan told WABC.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent weekly data, from December 17–23, there were over 29,000 COVID-related hospital admissions in the United States, an increase of more than 16% over the previous week. In the same time frame, the CDC also recorded approximately 14,700 flu-related hospital admissions.
During the COVID pandemic, mask mandates became contentious political and cultural issues that infuriated many who disregarded medical advice and believed masks did not effectively stop the illness from spreading.
The federal vaccine or test mandate for businesses was overturned by a conservative-dominated Supreme Court, while President Joe Biden’s public transit mask rule was overturned by a judge nominated by his Republican predecessor.
Deep animosity also existed among people who felt their health was compromised by wearing masks.
According to CDC data, COVID has claimed the lives of over 1.1 million Americans, outpacing the majority of other developed nations in this regard.
On Tuesday, the Chicago-based Rush University medical system announced that it will be mandating “that patients, visitors, and staff wear hospital-approved masks in certain areas of the campus.” They consist of patient registration and clinical waiting spaces.”
Chicago-based Cook County Health and the Chicago suburbs’ Endeavor Health began enforcing masks last month after hospitals were urged by the Illinois Department of Public Health to intensify their mitigation measures across the board, including masking the whole facility.
According to a statement, Berkshire Health Systems in Massachusetts started requiring mask wear on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the county sent to City News Service, masks were once again required at all authorized medical facilities in Los Angeles County, California, on Saturday. A request for comment was not immediately answered by the county’s health department.
