KEARNEY & GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – Starting Tuesday, May 12, all CHI Health hospitals and clinics, including Good Samaritan and St. Francis, ask individuals over the age of two entering their facilities to wear their own fabric mask or homemade face covering.
To prevent the possible spread of COVID-19, CHI Health facilities have been supplying medical-grade disposable masks. This change will help conserve vital personal protective equipment for our nation’s health care workforce and emergency responders.
In some instances, hospital staff will provide disposable masks as replacements.
Guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages the public to wear face coverings in places like clinics and hospitals, where it’s not always practical to maintain six feet of separation between individuals.
It is important to also practice good hand hygiene to maintain safety. If the facemask is touched, adjusted or removed, hand hygiene should be performed. Individuals should be careful not to touch their eyes, nose and mouth when removing their cloth face covering and wash hands immediately.
If individuals do not wear a mask properly, including putting-on and taking-off, infection can still spread. Visit //CHIhealth.com/coronavirus for an instructional video featuring infectious disease specialist Dr. Renuga Vivekanandan.
The CDC provides simple instructions on their website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus to make homemade face coverings using household items. The CDC also provides these instructions for how to wear a cloth face covering:
- fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face
- be secured with ties or ear loops
- include multiple layers of fabric
- allow for breathing without restriction
- be able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to shape
Depending on the frequency of use, fabric masks should be sterilized routinely by cycling through a washing machine.