COVID-19: Maternity Ward Patients Limited to One On-Site Support Person at Alberta Hospitals | The Canadian News

As COVID-19 cases continue to overwhelm Alberta hospitals, Alberta Health Services is making changes to the number of visitors people can have in maternity wards.

“To handle the growing impact of COVID-19 on our hospitals, we have made the difficult decision to reduce access to a designated support person on site with a patient in the maternity unit,” AHS said in a series of tweets on Thursday. .

The change will be implemented in hospitals in the province during the next four days.

“These adjustments are necessary to protect the health and safety of our patients / staff and to support patient care as we manage capacity challenges,” said AHS.

“COVID-19, particularly the Delta variant, is highly infectious and pregnant people are at increased risk for serious outcomes.”

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Requests to have two support people will be granted on a case-by-case basis, the health authority said.

“We know that it is important for patients to have their loved ones present at this time, however we encourage patients, family and friends to stay connected virtually or by phone whenever possible, rather than in person.” AHS said.

AHS said support people should not enter hospitals if they have symptoms of COVID-19 or if they are a close contact of a positive or possible positive case.

Hospitals that have outbreaks or are in surveillance settings may have additional restrictions, and individuals are encouraged to contact individual hospitals prior to visiting to be on the safe side.

As of Wednesday, 1,084 were being treated in hospital for COVID-19, with 268 in ICU beds.

Until Thursday at 12:30 p.m. M., There were 373 open ICU beds in Alberta, and 200 of those were additional additional beds to accommodate treatment of COVID-19 patients. Twenty-two of those spaces have been opened in the past seven days, AHS said.