Nova Scotia Health is reminding people that COVID-19, influenza, and RSV are still active and must be considered when visiting loved ones this holiday season.
In a release, they say masks must be worn at all times in all provincial health facilities and the number of visitors patients can have will depend on where they are being treated and what they are being treated for.
Only people identified by a patient as an essential care partner (support person, caregiver) can visit a patient in hospital.
Only one Essential Care Partner/ Support Person at a time for:
- children and youth under 19 in outpatient settings
- hospital inpatients
- patients in emergency departments
- prenatal visits, including ultrasounds
- ambulatory care clinics, appointments, or procedures
- patients with COVID-19 infection (additional measures may be required)
Two Essential Care Partners/ Support Persons at a time for:
- children and youth under 19 admitted to hospital, or having day surgery
- patients in intensive care units and critically ill patients in emergency departments
- patients in labour and giving birth
Three Essential Care Partners/Support Persons at a time for:
- palliative care and other patients nearing end of life
- patients receiving medical assistance in dying (MAiD)
In a release, Nova Scotia Health says people with compromised immune systems are relying on the facilities to ensure a safe and healthy place in which to receive treatment, rest and recover.
And that health care workers take precautions every day to prevent getting sick or passing illness onto patients.
Nova Scotia Health asks when visiting loved ones under provincial care this holiday season to bear in mind that general masking requirements create a healthier environment, reducing the strain on care teams, and the health care system as a whole.
More information can be found at https://www.nshealth.ca/VisitorsDuringCOVID.
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