SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — As respiratory illnesses spread throughout Illinois, the Hospital Sisters Health System has implemented seasonal visitor restrictions.
HSHS joins Memorial Health, which put visitor restrictions into place on Dec. 27. Both systems require visitors to be 18 or older, with no signs of illness.
Patients at HSHS and Memorial hospitals may only have two visitors at a time.
The Illinois Department of Public Health recently recommended temporary visitor restrictions due to a statewide increase in respiratory illness including COVID-19, influenza and RSV.
"We're starting to see the respiratory illness activity in general in Illinois going from what we thought was low to now a moderate level. So this is based on the CDC estimate where they're looking at the wastewater levels of COVID, RSV and flu in Illinois, as well as the emergency department levels. And we are all seeing all the COVID, flu, and RSV trend up," said Dr. Arti Barnes, Chief Medical Director for IDPH.
According to IDPH, whooping cough cases are also on the rise with more than 1,900 confirmed and probable pertussis cases in Illinois this year.
HSHS' seasonal restrictions apply to hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin.
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