SPOKANE, Wash. — MultiCare Health System announced all of its regions, including the Inland Northwest, will require masks for patients, visitors and staff in all patient care areas.
The company says this is because of a high circulation of flu, RSV and SARS-CoV-2 in all of the regions it services.
Patient care areas include patient floors and hallways, exam rooms, check-in areas, waiting rooms, emergency departments and any time there is interaction with a patient.
Masks will not be required in public holidays, elevators, lobbies, gift shops, cafeterias, break rooms, conference rooms or multi-purpose rooms. Masks are still strongly encouraged in these areas.
MultiCare said the mask mandates will be lifted when a geographic area goes two weeks without being over the threshold of RSV, flu and COVID cases. That threshold is as follows:
Regional emergency department (ED) visits for COVID-19 exceed 2.9 percent of total visitsRegional ED visits for influenza exceed 1.1 percent of total visitsRegional ED visits for RSV exceed 0.4 percent of total visits
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