BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Mandatory COVID-19 mask mandates are back at a few of the larger health systems in Philadelphia, but the Lehigh Valley’s larger health care providers say they have no plans to require them.
And one local official said that’s because previous masking mandates didn’t yield the expected outcome.
Masking still is optional at both St. Luke’s University Health Network and Lehigh Valley Health Network.
“What we’re seeing right now is a highly transmissible form of COVID.”
Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, St. Luke’s University Health Network
Most people are not contracting the coronavirus in the workplace, said Dr. Jeffrey Jahre, St. Luke’s senior vice president of medical and academic affairs and section chief emeritus of infectious diseases.
“What we’re seeing right now is a highly transmissible form of COVID that’s out there,” Jahre said. “But it is not more fulminant. If anything, it actually is less so.”
Jahre said his network has no plans to bring back mandatory masking because the previous mandates brought an unexpected outcome.
“What you’re doing is you’re turning your nursing staff into policemen,” with required masking, he said.
“That did not work out very well, and in many cases it actually resulted in violence in terms of how some of our visitors reacted to that.”
‘Continue to monitor the situation’
Jahre said St. Luke’s is advising people in certain situations to wear a mask, but if employees, patients or visitors feel sick they are encouraged to stay home and use telehealth, if need be.
He added that the network requires influenza vaccinations for employees or they must wear a mask during the entire flu season.
Similar policies are being followed at Lehigh Valley Health Network as well, with masking being optional at this time.
“We have not discussed returning to mandatory masking. We’ll continue to monitor the situation in all of our hospitals and make any decision about masking based on what we’re seeing.”
Dr. Alex Benjamin, Lehigh Valley Health Network’s chief infection control and prevention officer
“We have not discussed returning to mandatory masking,” said Dr. Alex Benjamin, Lehigh Valley Health Network’s chief infection control and prevention officer.
“We’ll continue to monitor the situation in all of our hospitals and make any decision about masking based on what we’re seeing,” Benjamin said.
COVID is not the only virus circulating in the Lehigh Valley right now.
Cases of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and whooping cough are all on the rise, officials said.
Benjamin advised everyone to take necessary precautions to keep yourself and your family healthy.
“We also recommend getting vaccinated for all three of the most prominent infections, if you are eligible: COVID, the flu and RSV.”
He said that if a person becomes ill, there are treatments for both COVID and influenza that can keep a patient out of the hospital.
Vaccination for respiratory viruses are available at both area health systems.
