October 5, 2022 |
The Centers for Disease Control quietly loosened mask mandates for health care facilities on Friday and Memorial Hospital of Carbon County is following suit.
The latest CDC edict reversed nearly two and a half of years of guidance related to the government’s response to COVID-19. Under the new rule, face coverings are required now only in hospitals and nursing homes where transmission of the respiratory virus is high.
Memorial Hospital CEO Ken Harmon updated county commissioners on Tuesday in how the new rule is being implemented at the health care facility in Rawlins. Harmon said hospital sought state approval before implementing the new policy.
Harmon said the new rule reflects how masks have traditionally been used in hospital settings pre-COVID.
Relief may be on the horizon for hospital employees who elected not to receive the experimental mRNA shot. Harmon said he expects the CDC will lift the mask rule for un-jabbed health care workers “in the next two weeks to five months.”
Harmon said patients have welcomed the lifting of the mask mandate.
The mask rule could change, Harmon cautioned, if the rate of COVID or flu cases spike in the county. In the meantime, wearing a mask at Memorial Hospital is strictly voluntary and not mandated by the federal government in most situations.
