As respiratory illnesses in the region continue to rise, the University of Vermont Medical Center is reviving its mask mandate for staff who work with patients, hospital executives announced on Wednesday.
Starting Thursday, staff will be required to wear a mask in patient rooms, exam rooms and when providing direct patient care, or in other patient interactions when a patient requests it, the hospital said in a press release.
The Burlington-based hospital lifted its mask mandate for patients and staff last April as Covid-19 cases waned. In the release, the hospital said the resumption of masking was in response to a rise in illnesses such as Covid, influenza and RSV in recent weeks.
The Vermont Department of Health reported Wednesday that 59 people have been admitted to hospitals with Covid in the past week, the highest the state has reported since Jan. 4, 2023. But state hospitalization levels remain “low,” the department said, well below the peak reached in January 2022.
In late December, the department upgraded the state’s flu activity from “minimal” to “low.”
Stephen Leffler, president and chief operating officer of the hospital, said in the release that masking was a “simple step that we can take to keep our patients safe.”
Masking would remain optional in public areas like hallways, shuttles and cafeterias, the hospital said. The hospital continues to require patients and visitors with symptoms of respiratory illness to wear a mask in all hospital facilities.
The hospital also encouraged patients, visitors and staff to consider masking if they are immunocompromised, are feeling sick or have been recently exposed to someone with a respiratory illness.
