Horizon Health adopts masking rule as respiratory illnesses rise

Horizon Health will require medical-grade masks in patient-facing areas of network hospitals starting next week because of rising rates of respiratory illnesses.

Patients, visitors, designated support people and health-care staff  would be required to mask in all Horizon buildings, the health network said in a news release.

Masks won't be required in hallways, cafeterias or lobbies, but they will be required in waiting rooms, including  emergency departments.

The mask rule is necessary because more people are getting respiratory infections, such as COVID-19, whooping cough and mycoplasma, and the rates are expected to rise further when school starts, Horizon said. 

Last week, the province declared a whooping cough outbreak — two months after one was declared on the Acadian Peninsula. 

Masks will be available at Horizon hospitals and other centres, the release says. 

Signs will be in place to inform people when masks are mandatory and when they aren't.

All health-care workers and designated support persons on units experiencing an outbreak must continuously mask with a medical-grade face mask.

Patients on outbreak units must also mask when out of their rooms, the release says.

Other measures remain in place, including self-screening.

While visitors with new symptoms of a respiratory infection in the past 10 days are not permitted to visit, patients with symptoms are allowed to go to appointments if they have cleaned their hands, put on a mask and informed their health care team. 

Vitalité Health said patients and visitors in that network's medical centres will be encouraged to wear masks on a voluntary basis. 

"However, wearing a mask is mandatory in units affected by an outbreak of COVID-19 or whooping cough," Vitalité said in a statement in French.

Despite community outbreaks, Vitalité has not recorded any cases of whooping cough among hospitalized patients, the network said