Even though Utah’s statewide mask mandate expires on Saturday, April 10, Intermountain’s mask and PPE guidelines for caregivers, patients, and visitors won’t be changing. Caregivers have done a great job keeping each other and our patients and visitors safe by following PPE guidelines, and we need to continue to do so.
Some important reminders to help protect patients and caregivers:
- Continue to follow Intermountain’s existing PPE guidelines even if you’ve received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Only 60 percent of caregivers are now vaccinated. This means four out of 10 people you interact with at work aren’t vaccinated. If you work in a patient-facing area or with visitors, wear a procedure mask and eye protection or a face shield.
- If you work in a clinical area, wear a procedure mask, not a cloth mask. Cloth masks, including Cotopaxi masks, aren’t the same as procedure masks. They don’t provide the same protection and shouldn’t be worn in clinical situations.
- Practice safe breakroom guidelines. Remember to stay at least six feet apart while in the breakrooms, keep your distance from others when removing your mask, and stagger your breaks to allow for safe distance.
- The risk of transmission of COVID-19 variants remains a concern. Utah is seeing an increase in the spread of COVID variants, so precautions are still important. We’re still learning about the vaccine’s effectiveness against new variants of COVID-19.
- Patient and visitor masking is still needed. As you interact with patient or go into patient rooms, they should continue to wear masks. Patients and visitors will need to continue to wear cloth face coverings, and masking will continue to be required within all Intermountain facilities.
As the rate of caregiver vaccinations increases and daily COVID-19 case counts decrease, Infection Prevention, Employee Health, and other clinical leaders are continually assessing how to keep caregivers and patients safe.
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