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Queen’s Medical Center today announced the reintroduction of its visitor ban policy, citing the recent surge in the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The medical center’s punchbowl location was closed to visitors at 2 p.m. on Saturday, while its West Oahu facility is set to enforce identical restrictions at the end of the day.
Molokai General Hospital and Queen’s North Hawaii Community Hospital will continue to accept one visitor per patient.
“As infection rates rise locally and nationally, we need to make sure we don’t lose sight of the safety protocols we currently have,” said Jason Chang, chief operating officer of The Queen’s Health Systems and president of The Queen’s Medical shared Center in a press release with. “After much deliberation, we decided to return to our No Visitor Policy. We understand that the holiday season is here, but the wellbeing of our caregivers and patients must remain our primary concern. “
Exceptions are made for obstetrics and pediatrics as well as for terminal care. Patients on an appointment at a Queen’s Health Systems clinic may bring a nurse with them.
The emergency room will also allow a single visitor to assist with early patient care, although that person will have to wait outside after that time.
There will be no exceptions for COVID-19 positive patients or patients under investigation for infection with the virus, Queen said.
Queen encourages potential visitors to call friends and family or video chat to prevent personal contact. The teams are ready to help lead such conversations.
>> RELATED: Hawaii‘s Total COVID-19 Cases Top 100,000 With 1,591 New Infections, 4 More Deaths
Today’s news hits the ground as the total number of COVID-19 cases in Hawaii tops 100,000.
Hawaii Department of Health officials today reported 1,591 new confirmed and probable infections nationwide, bringing the state’s total since the pandemic started to 100,184. Four new deaths – three in Kauai and one in Oahu – were recorded in the state’s latest coronavirus update, bringing the total coronavirus-related deaths to 1,082.
Health officials also said today that of the total number of infections in the state, 10,821 cases were considered active. Officials say they consider the infections reported in the past 14 days to be a “proxy number for active cases.” The state’s total active cases increased by 1,388 today.
The health department said Wednesday there are 74 confirmed Omicron cases in Hawaii, all of which were discovered on Oahu. Another four specimens from the island of Hawaii and two specimens from Maui were suspected as examples of the highly transmissive variant, the officials said at the time.
In its release, Queen’s Medical Center encourages residents to avoid large crowds, wear masks, and exercise caution at holiday parties that can pose a high risk for the virus to spread.
Queen’s also advises vaccinated residents to get a booster vaccination and encourages the unvaccinated to get a first dose as soon as possible.
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