PRINCETON – New Jersey hospitals have partnered with the New Jersey Hospital Association to develop heightened visitor restrictions to protect patients statewide amid the coronavirus outbreak.
These voluntary restrictions provide a statewide standard that create consistency for visitors while providing new safeguards for patients and hospital staff members.
“COVID-19 is a novel virus that poses an unprecedented threat to our patients, especially those who are elderly, have underlying medical conditions or have compromised immune systems. New Jersey’s hospitals and health systems have partnered with the New Jersey Hospital Association to initiate heightened precautions by adopting standardized visitor restrictions across our state,” the voluntary policy states.
These precautions include:
- Screening of all visitors to include:
- Any cold or flu-like symptoms including fever, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and trouble breathing
- Recent travel history to nations with high coronavirus activity as listed in the CDC’s travel alerts
- Any contact with individuals confirmed or determined to be a “person under investigation” for coronavirus
- If any of these conditions are present, the individual will not be allowed to visit.
- Minimizing the number of visitors to two at a time.
- Prohibiting visitors under age 12.
“These standards are the result of the collective leadership of healthcare CEOs in New Jersey,” said NJHA President and CEO Cathy Bennett. “Our top priority is to protect patients, but we all agreed that a statewide approach also provides consistency during a time of uncertainty and anxiety over coronavirus.”
Nursing homes also are adopting similar, and in some cases, additional visitor restrictions to protect their frail residents. Visitors are encouraged to check ahead as restrictions may change as the coronavirus situation evolves.
