Flu cases across Iowa are still rising and it’s prompting some hospitals to reinstate a policy from the pandemic era.
Clint Hawthorne, medical director for UnityPoint’s emergency departments in Des Moines, says they’ve started requiring staff members to wear masks.
Hawthorne says, “Even if a patient doesn’t have respiratory symptoms, they are there for their sprained ankle, for example, we are having staff wear masks into those rooms.”
In recent days, Iowa hospitals reported more than ten-percent of emergency room visits were for the flu, which is significantly higher than at this time last year.
Dr. Karen Brust, hospital epidemiologist with University of Iowa Healthcare, says it’s still not too late to get the flu shot.
“The predominant types of flu that we’re seeing are well covered by the vaccine,” Brust says, “and again, the vaccine isn’t going to protect us from getting sick. It’s going to protect us from hospitalization and death.”
Brust says Iowans should take care to wash their hands and stay home if they’re sick.
Dozens of Iowa schools are still reporting absence rates of at least ten-percent due to illness.
(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)