LMH updates mask requirements due to increased COVID transmission

Oct. 22—Logansport Memorial Hospital announced Friday morning that patients, staff and visitors will return to wearing masks inside the hospital for at least the next week. The most recent mask mandate, which was recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was enacted due to high COVID-19 transmission in Cass County this week.

Masks will be required until this Friday at 9 a.m. At that point, hospital staff will check Cass County's transmission level and determine whether masks must be worn inside the building.

"One week it may be that masks are required, and the next week we may not be requiring masks because the transmission level has gone down," said Carmen Jones, LMH Director of Marketing and Community Relations. "I realize that's a lot of change in short amounts of time, but we're just following the CDC's guidance and data that they are tracking for our county specifically and for the surrounding counties where we have hospital-based services or clinics."

The CDC is currently advising hospitals and healthcare facilities to monitor transition levels, or "the amount of COVID-19 spread within each county," rather than community levels, which the CDC said can be used "to determine the impact of COVID-19 on communities and to take action."

"The transmission rate is the number of people in the community that have COVID," LMH Vice President of Planning and Development Vicki Byrd said. "There are four levels: high, substantial, moderate, and low. That's changed, and the CDC says when your transmission rate is at a high level, you must be masked."

Despite higher transmission levels, Byrd said the number of COVID hospitalizations at LMH has not increased. The hospital hopes to keep that number low by following the CDC's COVID recommendations and lowering transmission.

"Last week we were at the moderate level," Byrd said. "It changes every Thursday night at 8 p.m., and last night we went to the high level."

Data for individual counties can be found online at https://covid.cdc.gov. The information is automatically sorted by COVID community levels, but drop-down menus above the website's map allow individuals to search by various categories.

Jones added that the CDC's website can be confusing and encouraged anyone utilizing the website to ensure they are looking at community transmission instead of COVID-19 community levels.

"It's very difficult to use that website," she said. "That's the link that we have to use, but you do have to navigate down a little bit and use the drop down menu to change it because, at first glance, it looks like we're green and everything is good, but if you change it to what the CDC is recommending that we monitor and base decisions from, then it is red and high. That's what we are required to go by."

COVID is not the only illness currently being monitored in Cass County. As the hospital tries to reduce the spread of COVID-19, other seasonal illnesses are also making an appearance. Byrd added that taking preventative measures against COVID could protect people against other common diseases.

"We are seeing increased respiratory illnesses here at the hospital, and flu is right around the corner for us," she said. "We are evidently seeing an increase in COVID as well, so people need to watch the transmission levels and use the precautions that have been in place since the beginning of COVID."

Those precautions include wearing masks, social distancing, staying up to date on vaccines and booster shots, avoiding people who have been diagnosed with COVID or other illnesses, and staying home and testing if you are experiencing symptoms.

Most U.S. residents enrolled in an insurance plan can receive up to eight free COVID tests each month to test at home. According to a guide from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal government incentivized insurers to cover the total cost or reimbursement for approved tests at the beginning of the year. Tests can be picked up in-person at pharmacies or online.

"The biggest thing is just to stay aware and to use the COVID precautions," Byrd said. "We are entering that time of the year when flu and respiratory issues are much higher. (On the COVID map), we are red. Those surrounding us are orange, which is substantial. This area does seem to be trending to have a little bit of a higher transmission rate. The other piece, in addition to taking COVID precautions, is, if you've not been vaccinated before, or if you are due for a booster, we would encourage people to be vaccinated and get their boosters as well as get their flu shots."

Byrd said people can typically get their flu shots and COVID vaccines or boosters at the same time by visiting the Cass County Health Department, a pharmacy or their primary care provider.

Jones also asked people to be patient with the hospital's current mask requirements and monitor changes each week as information about COVID transmission in Cass County becomes available.

"This could change and it's completely normal for us to require masks one week and not require masks the next week," Jones said. "We'll do our very best to get the information out to people from week to week as the CDC's information changes and updates."