Idaho’s two largest health systems lift mask mandates, with exceptions. What to know
St. Luke’s and Saint Alphonsus health systems have lifted their universal masking requirements more than three years after the COVID-19 pandemic first reached Idaho.
The policy changes, effective Wednesday, mean that masks are now optional in most settings where patient care is provided at all locations across the two largest health systems in Idaho.
St. Luke’s spokesperson Christine Myron confirmed the move with the Idaho Statesman by email. The mask requirement at St. Luke’s was put in place in early April 2020.
She said masks will still be readily available for those who want them, and patients can request that staff wear them while providing direct care. Masks will still be worn in certain settings, including in operating rooms, as part of routine infection prevention standards.
“This has been a very thoughtfully considered decision to modify our masking policy — it involved careful consideration and review of the latest data on COVID-19 and other respiratory virus transmission in our communities,” Myron said by email. “We encourage patients, staff and providers to use masks based on their personal risk and comfort level.”
The policy change comes after President Joe Biden signed a congressional resolution Monday to end the COVID-19 national emergency three years after it was enacted, the Associated Press reported.
Myron said the official end of the public health emergency was not behind St. Luke’s decision.
She told the Statesman that the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 at St. Luke’s has been declining, though the disease remains present in the communities the hospital system operates in. Over the past 30 days, just 3% to 5% of patients admitted to its hospitals have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
“The sustained low rates of hospitalizations were an important factor in the recent adjustment to our masking policy,” Myron said.
Masks are still required at St. Luke’s in long-term care settings, based on regulatory requirements.
While masking is now optional at St. Luke’s Cancer Institute, it’s still required for patients, staff and visitors in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinic and the 4 South and pediatric oncology inpatient setting in Boise.
“Masks have been, and continue to be, an effective tool for preventing the spread of infections by respiratory route,” Myron said. “We will continue to closely monitor viral respiratory disease activity in our community and may consider resuming universal masking if deemed necessary in the future.”
Saint Alphonsus Health System, the second-largest health system in Idaho following St. Luke’s, announced in a news release Wednesday that it also decided to make masks optional, citing a decline in COVID-19 transmission rates and the end of influenza season.
As of Wednesday, masks are no longer required at Saint Alphonsus’s hospitals and clinics in hallways, public spaces and nursing stations.
The health system still requires masks be worn around patients with certain infectious diseases and in some patient rooms and areas, including medical oncology and infusion clinics.
Patients or visitors can also request staff wear masks when providing direct care.
COVID-19 self-screening policies will remain at all Saint Alphonsus locations in Idaho and people who prefer to wear masks can still do so.
Employees will wear personal protective equipment appropriate for the care provided, according to the news release. The health system plans to continue monitoring COVID-19 transmission levels and make adjustments to its masking guidelines as necessary.
Dr. David Pate, the retired CEO of St. Luke’s, wrote on Twitter following the news release from Saint Alphonsus that claims of low COVID-19 transmission rates are unfounded.
Pate posted a screenshot of the latest community transmission map from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that shows many areas of Idaho, including Ada and Elmore counties, are listed as “high” or “substantial.” The categorizations are based on metrics that use total new cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days and the percentage of positive test results in the past seven days, also known as the positivity rate, to calculate risk.
The most recent positivity rate reported by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is 7.4% for the week of March 26 through April 1. Public health officials say a rate of 5% or less indicates control of the disease.
“You are free to disregard the risks, but please don’t let anyone mislead you into thinking that there is minimal risk of contracting COVID right now,” Pate wrote. “These transmission rates will almost always look better than they are in reality, because most testing and cases are no longer being reported.”
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