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WORCESTER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Amid rising COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts, UMass Memorial Health in Worcester is reinstating a mask mandate for staff members whenever they interact with patients.
"We have continued to see a dramatic increase in the number of COVID-19 positive employees over the past two weeks, which has led to exposures of both fellow caregivers and patients," the hospital told staff in a memo sent Thursday. "In response to this, as a protective measure for our staff and patients, effective immediately we are requiring mandatory caregiver masking for all patient encounters in all licensed clinical areas."
The policy does not require masking in common areas, but is strongly encouraged at this time. Patients and visitors will also be encouraged, but not required, to wear masks.
"Should we continue to see increased transmission rates, we will need to further expand the mask requirement to include anyone who enters the building," the memo continued. "We will be following viral trends closely and will re-evaluate this mandate in 4 weeks’ time, unless worsening conditions dictate otherwise."
On Thursday, the Massachusetts Department of Health reported 2,048 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts during the past week, bringing the seven-day average to 10.83 percent. This is the highest seven-day average of confirmed cases since January.
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