Jessai Flores

Yale New Haven Hospital workers must wear facemasks while interacting with patients.

YNHH said in a statement that the mandate, which started on Jan. 15, was imposed due to an increase in the rates of respiratory viruses in Connecticut, including the flu and COVID-19. 

“Masking has been shown to reduce the transmission of these viruses and protect patients, staff and visitors,” YNHH wrote in a statement.

Akiko Iwasaki, a professor of immunobiology at the School of Medicine, favors the change, as she said it will help patients and doctors avoid getting ill during the surge of respiratory infections. 

Iwasaki reported that the rates of respiratory diseases are similar to previous years. However, she added that this year, “there seems to be a combination of viruses going around.” Some have crowned this combination of viruses a “quad-demic,” with COVID-19, flu, RSV and even norovirus, the gastrointestinal disease, all spreading around the country. 

Dr. Albert Ko, professor of public health at the School of Public Health, explained that a mask mandate for staff makes sense because patients are often elderly, immunocompromised or have medical conditions that place them at risk for severe outcomes from respiratory illnesses. He said this is particularly important since rates of emergency room visits for flu and RSV are, respectively, “high” and “very high” across the United States.

“We are most concerned with patient facing healthcare staff given the number of times a day they are in close contact with patients, and also the number of different patients they encounter a day,” Ko wrote to the News.

Masking the staff, who interact with multiple patients daily, will slow the spread of diseases around the hospital.

“Even without the mandate, I’m always masking,” Iwasaki added. “This should be a practice we should get used to.”

Patients and visitors at the hospital are encouraged but not required to mask except for certain situations.

ZOE BEKETOVA
Zoe Beketova covers Yale New Haven Hospital for the SciTech desk. From London, UK, she is a graduate student at the School of Medicine studying Developmental Neuroscience.