More Jersey Shore hospitals bring back COVID mask mandates; rules vary for different roles

RWJBarnabas Health beginning Monday will require staff and visitors at its facilities to wear facemasks when they are around patients, the latest health care network to ramp up precautions in the wake of an increase in COVID-19 cases.

The decision affects hospitals in Monmouth and Ocean counties including Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood and Community Medical Center in Toms River.

"We've seen COVID cases triple since July, and we have seen respiratory illnesses go up across the board, including pediatrics," said Carrie Cristello, a spokesperson for RWJBarnabas. "We're trying to be proactive and get ahead of it."

West Orange-based RWJBarnabas is one of the New Jersey's biggest health networks, with 12 acute-care hospitals and 38,000 employees.

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The decision comes as New Jersey has seen COVID hospitalizations rise from 356 on Sept. 1 to 600 on Sept. 27. By comparison, there were 952 COVID hospitalizations the same time last year. But health providers worry that COVID and other respiratory illnesses will continue to increase as the weather gets colder and people gather indoors.

RWJBarnabas said it will enforce its new guidelines Monday, giving it time to stock up on masks and prepare signage. The new rules include:

• Inpatients will be required to wear face masks when leaving their room.

• Outpatients will need to wear face masks at all times when they are at an RWJBarnabas facility.

• Employees will be required to wear face masks when providing direct care to patients.

• Visitors, volunteers and vendors will be required to wear face masks in the presence of patients.

RWJBarnabas is also asking visitors to perform COVID a risk assessment and defer their visitations to another day if they: test positive for COVID; have been around others who tested positive for COVID; or have symptoms of respiratory illnesses. Symptoms include fever or chills; trouble breathing; muscle or body aches; or recently lost their sense of taste and smell.

Nine New Jersey health facilities owned by Hackensack Meridian Health tightened their own masking policies earlier in the week. In Monmouth and Ocean counties, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune on Thursday said it would require face masks, joining Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Ocean Medical Center in Brick and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Stafford.

CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township doesn't have a mask mandate for patients or visitors. But it requires employees providing direct inpatient care to wear masks, a spokesperson said.

The rise in COVID hospitalizations is being driven by the XBB.1.5. The strain isn't considered as severe as its predecessors in the early months of the pandemic, but it has mutations that can make it transmissible even to people who previously had COVID, according to the American Medical Association, a trade group.

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And the virus still can be deadly. There have been 48 confirmed deaths statewide due to COVID so far in September, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

Mask mandates have been pulled into the political fray, with Republicans vowing to block them and Democrats shying away from the issue. Health providers, however, say masks are part of a larger strategy to protect patients against the illness.

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In addition, RWJBarnabas said visitors should clean their hands before and after visiting the facility and practice proper social distancing once inside. It also is encouraging staff and patients six months or older to get the COVID vaccine.

"Evidence has proven that COVID-19 vaccination is the most effective way to protect ourselves from severe disease and hospitalization," RWJBarnabas said in a statement. "It also reduces the chance you will pass the virus to someone else and lessens the risk of long COVID-19 in both adult and pediatric patients."

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth, Ocean County hospitals bring back COVID mask mandates