Sky Lakes Lifts Temporary Safety Restrictions
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Sky Lakes Medical Center today lifted the temporary safety measures put in place in January to help prevent the spread of flu.
Under the temporary measures, anyone 18 and younger was restricted from visiting patients in the Emergency Department or in the inpatient care areas of the medical center without specific permission.
“The number of patients admitted with flu-like illness, the number of flu tests done, and the number of positive tests are all significantly down from the peaks in December and early February, so the restrictions are no longer necessary,” said Rose Walker Patterson, RN, MSN, the Sky Lakes Infection Control nurse.
That means the visitation rules return to normal, she said.
"The incidence of flu, as measured by the number of tests ordered and the positives found, peaked in the winter – thus the restrictions – and has been gradually winding down, states Tom Hottman, Public Relations Officer, Sky Lakes Medical Center.
"Although there likely are still cases of flu in the community, we’re pretty comfortable removing the restrictions," Hottman continues. "The number of tests per week went up to around 150 (from 50s and 60s) starting in late December through mid-February w a steady drop since about Valentine’s Day. During that period, positive results were generally 12-17 percent of the total tests. We put the restrictions in place when the positives jumped to about 24 percent then 27 percent."
“It is still important to remember, regardless of where you are, to use proper hand hygiene and ‘cough etiquette,’” Patterson added.
Proper hand hygiene means washing your hands with warm water and soap or using an alcohol-based hand cleaner. “Cough etiquette” includes covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and place the used tissue in a wastebasket, or cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands, Patterson explained.
Press release provided from Sky Lakes Medical Center.
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