Bellingham hospital limits visitors to ‘essential support’ due to coronavirus spread
Due to the recent spread of new coronavirus in the region, Bellingham’s St. Joseph hospital Friday said it is requesting patients’ visitors be limited to those who are “essential.”
“We are requesting visitors be limited to no more than one to two people — those that are determined essential support,” hospital spokesperson Bev Mayhew told The Bellingham Herald Friday, March 6.
The hospital also is asking anyone who is not feeling well and is not seeking medical attention to refrain from going to the hospital, Mayhew said.
The reason for the limitation, Mayhew said, is to limit the comings and goings of people, reducing the number of people that could potentially be exposed, while also limiting the chances that someone brings COVID-19 into the hospital.
“Basically, we want fewer people in the hospital,” Mayhew said.
As of Thursday, March 5, no one has tested positive for COVID-19 in Whatcom County, but six people in the county have been tested, after the Whatcom County Health Department announced Thursday that three more people are being tested.
In Washington state, the number of people diagnosed with the illness jumped to 70 on Thursday, and on Friday the state reported that there have been 14 deaths related to COVID-19.
Coronavirus, known as COVID-19, is spread through contact between people within six feet of each other, especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s possible to catch COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath, which may occur two days to two weeks after exposure. The disease is especially dangerous for the elderly and others with weaker immune systems.
As of Friday morning, more than 101,000 cases have been reported worldwide, with about 3,400 deaths, the vast majority of them in China. In the U.S., 241 cases have been confirmed.
St. Joseph hospital offers masks near the front entrance and encourages anyone not feeling well to use them when they enter, Mayhew said.
On Wednesday, Mayhew reported that the hospital’s Emergency Department has not seen a significant increase in the number of people seeking treatment due to COVID-19 concerns and the ER’s traffic was normal for cold and flu season.
The hospital continues to encourage people who have fever and flu-like symptoms and believe they may have been in contact with somebody with COVID-19 to call their medical provider first, before going to the hospital or a clinic, Mayhew said.
PeaceHealth, the hospital group that manages St. Joseph hospital, is not doing its own COVID-19 testing, Mayhew said, as the hospital continues to “work lockstep with the state” for testing.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 11:39 AM.
