New mask requirements at Nova Scotia hospitals start Thursday

Nova Scotia Health is reintroducing masking requirements in ambulatory and inpatient units at provincial hospitals starting Thursday.

Nova Scotia Health is introducing new masking requirements for visitors and health-care workers in provincial hospitals.

Beginning Thursday, masking will be required in ambulatory and inpatient care areas.

“Anybody who is in clinical area in the hospital’s inpatient units and clinics where we are providing direct patient care. We will still have masks available at entrances, but we won't be making people put them on just yet in the common areas, cafeterias, elevators, those sorts of places,” said Doctor Shelly McNeil, senior medical director for Nova Scotia Health.

McNeil says the idea of implementing these changes now is to get ahead of the spread of respiratory illnesses that come along with colder weather.

“We sort of monitor several different ways to see how many respiratory viruses are in the community. We can look at the number of people presenting or care for respiratory illnesses. We can look at the number of people hospitalized with respiratory infections, people getting tests or treatments for respiratory infections," said McNeil.

"It's usually around this time of year when we see an upswing in that, and we have been seeing that very consistently in Nova Scotia and given that we are looking to reduce the risk inside of hospitals as early as possible."

Dr. John Gillis, an emergency room doctor at Dartmouth General Hospital in Dartmouth, N.S., says he has seen many patients experiencing these illnesses already this year.