Several health systems in Illinois have implemented full or partial mask mandates amid a continuing rise in respiratory infections across the state.
Visitors and staff must wear hospital-approved masks in some areas, Rush University Medical Center said in a note on its website, citing increasing levels of coronavirus (COVID-19) and other respiratory illnesses, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus.
“Effective December 2, 2024, Rush requires patients and visitors to wear hospital-approved masks when in clinical offices and patient registration and waiting areas,” the hospital stated. “This policy coincides with the respiratory virus season, when the prevalence of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and COVID-19 increases.”
The above requirement applies to all of the health system's hospitals – Rush University Medical Center, Rush Copley Medical Center, and Rush Oak Park Hospital. Meanwhile, OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria will begin requiring masks on Tuesday due to “widespread respiratory illness,” including COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. In addition, the hospital is temporarily restricting only two visitors – 18 years of age or older – per patient.
Health systems in other regions, such as Endeavor Health, require masks for visitors and patients with respiratory symptoms, citing continued transmission of the virus, according to its website. Meanwhile, the University of Chicago Medicine is mandating that employees wear masks “for all patient care and patient-facing activities,” according to a spokesperson.
Statewide, the Illinois Department of Public Health warned on December 23 that “the overall level of respiratory illness has increased from low to moderate.” Emergency room visits for respiratory illness rose from 13.8% to 14.7% in a one-week period, along with a rise in ICU admissions for respiratory syncytial virus, which officials said was largely driven by children ages 0 to 4 years. . .
The rise in Illinois comes after cases of influenza and whooping cough rose in much of the country.
Hospitalizations typically spike the week after the holiday, but this year, hospitalizations are “really exploding,” said Dr. Whitney Lin, a family medicine physician at Cook County Health.
For those who do become ill, there are effective antiviral treatments available for COVID-19 and influenza, but they must be started quickly. Even with disease rates rising and the holidays over, doctors insist that it is not too late to get vaccinated.
Lin said it's “really important” to consider getting vaccines to reduce your chances of getting seriously ill.
“But the really important thing about it is that the majority of these viruses that we see have vaccines that can reduce symptoms or not cause symptoms at all,” she added. “The more people we get vaccinated against influenza, RSV, and COVID, those are the things that will really reduce person-to-person transmission and not cause your whole family to get sick.”
While vaccinations take about two weeks to provide the full level of protection, getting vaccinated now will provide protection during the cold and flu season that lasts into the spring.
Doctors stress that anyone with common respiratory symptoms — such as coughing, sneezing or fever — should wear a mask any time they are around others.
“…If you have that cough or sneeze, please wear a mask because you don't know what you have,” Lynn said. “And if you have elderly people around you or immunocompromised people with chronic diseases or even children, these things can make things worse for them.”
