For the first time in three years, guests at hospitals in the Cincinnati region are no longer required to wear masks while visiting loved ones.
The policy changes recently went into effect on different days at all six major health systems in the region but have come in response to declining COVID-19 rates, increased immunity, and drops in other respiratory illnesses, hospital representatives confirmed.
The health systems all changed policies requiring guests to wear masks prior to legislation from President Joe Biden on Monday that ended the national emergency for COVID-19. A separate public health emergency is also scheduled to end May 11.
Colleges throughout the US, have also ended vaccine requirements for students at various times beginning last year, with some coming as recent as last month.
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The mandates were removed at the hospitals following consistent drops in infections, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit patients. According to the latest update from the Health Collaborative's Situational Dashboard, which is updated weekly, the Cincinnati region currently has 54 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. In early 2022, just over one year ago, there were over 1,000. The region currently has 11 COVID-positive patients in the ICU and five on ventilators.
"The data overall is looking very stable, continuing a slow, steady decrease, which is fantastic," said Tiffany Mattingly, vice president of clinical strategies for the Health Collaborative, the coordinating group for the region's 40 hospitals. "Our hospitals are not overwhelmed from a standpoint of COVID or influenza right now, so we're in really good shape there."
Cincinnati hospitals pivot to 'optional' mask wearing
Bon Secours Mercy Health was the first system to pull a requirement last September when it changed its policy from a mandate to guidance that "strongly recommended" masks in facilities including "patient-facing areas."
TriHealth followed by removing its mandate for masks in late January and removed visitor restrictions with the exception of "COVID patient visitors and maternity/neonatal intensive care unit visitors)."
In March, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center took the step to make masking optional for "most staff and visitors in public areas" but kept requirements in some areas of the medical center and for people with certain medical conditions. The health system also announced it would "likely" return to a temporary mask mandate during the flu season.
"Because of everything we’ve learned about how masks help limit the spread of certain illnesses, Cincinnati Children’s will likely return to a required masking practice during flu/respiratory illness season – using data about disease prevalence and spread to inform that decision," the organization said in a statement.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare and UC Health changed policies to make masks for visitors and patients optional on April 3. Masks are still required at UC Health's Drake Center, in its neonatal intensive care unit, and in bone marrow transplant units and clinics.
St. Elizabeth will also allow an unlimited number of visitors for inpatients during established visiting hours (8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week), while COVID-19 positive patients may receive two visitors per day.
The Christ Hospital Health Network updated its policy to make masks optional April 5. The change is "due to significant declines in COVID-19 transmission and overall positivity rates," according to Christ's website.
"Patients and families who feel more comfortable wearing a mask are welcomed to do so," the website reads. "We will continue to evaluate any new information presented by the CDC and other scientific sources and will make changes to the policy when appropriate."
Data shows declining infections, hospitalizations
Cincinnati isn't alone in removing mask mandates over the last few weeks. Hospitals all across the United States began walking back the unprecedented policy after Biden announced a planned date to end the national emergency. The emergency order allowed government to take sweeping action to combat the virus.
Hospitals began requiring visitors to wear masks after the COVID-19 began to take shape in early 2020. While visitor restrictions gradually waned, mask mandates have remained as a number of different strains of the virus have caused waves of infections.
The COVID infections, coupled with other respiratory illnesses, have at times throughout the pandemic, placed major strain on the system, causing hospitals to become overwhelmed with patients. But hospital levels have bounced back following high flu and RSV spread a few months ago, Mattingly said. The outlook for hospitals looking ahead, remains stable even with remaining workforce shortages as the pandemic transitions to more of an endemic, she said.
"Everything I've been hearing at this point, is those days of significant surges are hopefully behind us," Mattingly said.
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