A growing number of states—including Utah—are experiencing “high” or “very high” respiratory virus activity and seasonal flu activity. With the holiday season underway, it’s important to remember preventive tips as you come to work and as you attend gatherings with friends, family, and coworkers to keep you and others safe and healthy:
Preventive Tips
- Caregivers are still required to wear masks in all Intermountain patient-facing areas, which include patient and exam rooms, hallways, cafeterias, nurses’ stations, registration, and home visits. Here’s why:
- Hospitals, clinics, and home health services care for vulnerable patients who are at risk of severe disease or death if infected. We want to minimize exposures and keep these vulnerable populations as safe as possible.
- Caregiver shortages are a concern. While caregivers can become ill outside of work, we want to limit potential workplace exposures to keep caregivers healthy and able to support each other in caring for patients.
- The masking policy meets CMS and OSHA requirements for healthcare facilities.
- Starting today, December 1, caregivers with a flu shot exemption will need to be masked at all times in patient-facing and also non-patient facing areas until flu season is over. Employee Health will send targeted email reminders to caregivers with an exemption and their leader with a reminder about this policy.
- Caregivers are strongly encouraged to get the COVID-19 bivalent booster if it’s been at least two months since your last COVID vaccine dose (and you’ve finished the primary series). Employee Health isn’t administering booster doses to caregivers, so contact your primary care clinic, local health department, or preferred community pharmacy to schedule an appointment. The bivalent booster is not required for employment.
- Remember the basics: stay home when you’re sick; clean your hands often; avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth; and practice other healthy habits like getting plenty of sleep. Routinely clean frequently touched objects and surfaces, including doorknobs, keyboards, and phones, to help remove germs
- Intermountain still offers self-serve priority COVID testing for caregivers. Get started by completing the self-testing form.
- Even though COVID-19 has been around for almost three years, it can still be an overwhelming illness. The Employee Health COVID triage team can answer any questions you have about COVID-19 when you call 801-442-7547, option 3.