The Illinois Department of Public Health has recommended that masks be worn in certain areas of health care facilities due to an increase in respiratory infections, including COVID-19, flu, and RSV. The rise in cases has led to a 20% increase in hospitalizations, with 44 counties in Illinois experiencing elevated levels. The guidance encourages health care settings to consider implementing masks, especially when caring for individuals with weakened immune systems. The CDC also recommends universal masking during periods of higher COVID-19 levels. Residents are urged to wear masks, practice good hand hygiene, and get vaccinated to protect themselves and others, particularly those at higher risk for severe disease.
Several Bay Area counties, including Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Sonoma, and Santa Clara, have reinstated mask mandates in specific indoor settings related to health and medical care, such as doctors' offices, clinics, and hospitals, due to the resurgence of respiratory illnesses including COVID-19, flu, and RSV. The mandates are expected to last until spring, as health experts anticipate a rise in cases during the winter season.
Starting November 1, Bay Area counties in California, including Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo, Contra Costa, and Sonoma, will implement masking mandates in health care settings due to the onset of the winter respiratory virus season. This requirement applies to patients, caregivers, and health care providers in hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities. Health officials advise checking stocks of rapid COVID tests and encourage individuals to get vaccinated against COVID-19, flu, and RSV.
The living guideline on infection prevention and control in the context of COVID-19 consolidates technical guidance into evidence-informed recommendations for IPC. It includes statements on various IPC measures in health-care settings and mask fit in the community context. The updated version focuses on transitioning from emergency response to sustained disease prevention, control, and management. It emphasizes the adoption of standard and transmission-based precautions in health-care facilities and public health practices in community settings, along with the implementation of control measures and occupational health and safety measures to prevent health care-associated infections.
MaskBlocABQ, a mutual aid network in Albuquerque, distributed 675 free high-filtration masks outside Presbyterian Hospital to patients, healthcare workers, and visitors. The group aims to advocate for the use of masks in healthcare settings, especially since major hospitals in New Mexico dropped masking requirements in April. However, security guards asked the group to leave, citing the hospital's policy against solicitors. MaskBlocABQ and similar grassroots efforts are calling for the reinstatement of mask mandates in healthcare settings and providing masks for everyone. The group has distributed 15,000 masks so far and is committed to stopping the transmission of COVID-19.
Five cases of a multi-drug-resistant fungus called Candida Auris have been reported in North Carolina since February. The fungus spreads easily in health care settings and can cause invasive infections that can sometimes be fatal. It is not a threat to healthy people, but more so to people who are extremely sick with invasive medical devices or people with long or frequent stays in health care facilities. State health officials are working closely with health care facilities to detect and prevent the spread of Candida Auris.
