Mass General Brigham says staff will now be wearing masks when in direct contact with patients amid a spike in respiratory viruses.
It's that time of year, with sicknesses making the rounds through the community, and one Massachusetts health care system is stepping up its precautions.
"I've been sick for three weeks," said Bradley Silsbee of Lynn.
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"Pretty much everyone I know is sick or recovering from being sick," added Katie Callahan of Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood.
Mass General Brigham says the number of respiratory virus cases is so high that its hospitals and clinics are requiring staff to wear masks when having direct contact with patients.
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Tufts Medicine brought back masks for similar situations just before Christmas.
"Each hospital has developed its own unique policy for when masks would be brought back," said Dr. Shira Doron, chief infection control officer at Tufts.
Doron says COVID numbers are better than typical years, and RSV is past peak. But flu cases are rising, and we are seeing an above average year for whooping cough and walking pneumonia.
"This is the height of the season right now, and it makes sense that everybody is using masks in a targeted way," said Doron.
At Mass General Brigham, the hospital system says when 2.85% of patients in their emergency rooms and outpatient clinics have symptoms of a respiratory virus, that's when masking becomes required for staff, and they have hit that threshold.
Masks remain optional for patients and visitors.
