Area hospitals still require masks, most ditching health screeners at entrances

NBC5

Some area hospitals in Vermont and New York will no longer have employees screening visitors before entering for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Across the country, medical institutions have been requiring patients, visitors and staff to wear masks ever since COVID became prevalent back in 2020.

Some hospitals used to take people’s temperatures and ask questions to find out if visitors exhibited COVID-19-like symptoms, even as the rest of the world started relaxing precautions.

“We do a different kind of work here, and we have a responsibility to keep patients and families safe, as well as make sure that we have a staff that is here to provide safe medical care,” said Dr. Todd Gregory, the chief medical officer at Rutland Regional Medical Center.

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