Baltimore — The hospital system announced Thursday that Johns Hopkins Medicine’s universal mandatory masking will continue at its facilities.
The amendment to the policy will be effective from January 12.
Mandatory masks for patients, visitors and staff regardless of vaccination status at all Johns Hopkins medical sites across Maryland are due to an increase in hospitalizations for Covid, influenza and RSV.
In a statement, Johns Hopkins said, “We expect this requirement to be in effect for a short period of time because the incidence of influenza-like illness is high.”
Johns Hopkins Medicine said the change was prompted by a recommendation from the Maryland Department of Health.
The agency shared data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed Maryland’s total hospitalization rate for Covid-19, influenza and RSV at the end of December exceeded 10 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents.
The hospitalization rate for the week ending Dec. 16 was 11.4, according to the state health department.
The health department’s website suggests that the weekly respiratory virus-related hospitalization rate can be stopped after facility-wide masks drop below 10 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents for two consecutive weeks.
Earlier this week, Lifebridge Health and the University of Maryland Medical System
A restored mask The medical facilities.
Mercy Medical Center and MedStar confirmed that their health facilities still “strongly encourage” the use of masks.