Eastern Connecticut hospitals will be reinstating the visitor restrictions they had in place because of a recent COVID-19 outbreak in the community.
Eastern Connecticut, Backus, Windham, and Natchaug hospitals will be impacted by the visitor restrictions, according to Hartford Healthcare.
The restrictions come after a COVID-19 alert was issued for Norwich by the Department of Public Health. Norwich has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases, with 119 positive cases from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1, according to Hartford Healthcare.
"We are doing everything we can to protect local residents from this very significant public health crisis," said Donna Handley, president of Backus and Windham hospitals. "Our facilities are safe, ready and prepared to serve our community."
Exceptions will be made for maternity services and end of life care, a Hartford Healthcare spokesperson said.
The visitor restrictions are already in place at Natchaug Hospital and will become effective at Backus and Windham by the end of the day Monday, the spokesperson said.
According to Hartford Healthcare, the Backus Hospital testing site performed 390 tests on Friday and yielded a positivity rate of 10%. The state's positive test rate is 1.4%. There were 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases at Backus Hospital as of Oct. 3.
