Morristown Medical Center Limits Visitors As COVID Cases Rise

Josh Bakan
·2 min read

MORRISTOWN, NJ — With COVID-19's presence rising again, Atlantic Health System tightened visitor restrictions Monday at its hospitals, including Morristown Medical Center.

New Jersey has not seen a surge in COVID hospitalizations since last winter's omicron wave. But cases have risen recently increased throughout the Garden State, prompting some hospitals to return to certain visitor restrictions.

Atlantic Health System made the decision to tighten its visitor policies after receiving guidance from its employees, the New Jersey Department of Health and the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA), according to the health provider's announcement. The NJHA — an advocacy organization for New Jersey's hospitals — developed a color-coded system to help hospitals determine visitor restrictions during the pandemic.

As of Friday, all North Jersey hospitals fall into the middle, "yellow" category, which prompts the NJHA to recommend the region's hospitals impose the following rules:

  • No visitors are allowed for COVID-19 patients, except for circumstances approved by staff.

  • No visitors are allowed for those who are immunocompromised, except for circumstances approved by staff.

  • Other types of patients may have one visitor at a time. They must follow requirements on masking, symptom screening and other precautions.

Atlantic Health's updated visitor restrictions apply to Morristown Medical Center, Goryeb Children's Hospital in Morristown, Overlook Medical Center in Summit, Newton Medical Center, Chilton Medical Center in Pompton Plains, Hackettstown Medical Center.

The hospitals will prohibit visitors for patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, except in cases the care team approves. Visitors for immunosuppressed patients won't be permitted, except under certain circumstances such as one parent of guardian for a pediatric patient or one visitor for end-of-life care.

Certain exceptions apply. See the updated policy for more details.

New Jersey's COVID cases have steadily increased throughout April. The state averaged 2,135 infections per day in the past week. Three weeks before, the state's seven-day average totaled 1,217 new cases per day.

But COVID hospitalizations — a lagging indicator that can follow an increase in cases — have remained steady. New Jersey hospitals had 6,089 COVID patients on Jan. 11, approaching a pandemic high. The state had only 334 at the end of March and now had 462 COVID patients in hospitals as of Sunday.

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This article originally appeared on the Morristown Patch