Sentara Healthcare recently announced it is changing restriction policies in regard to the covid-19 pandemic. The healthcare system has hospitals and medical offices in Hampton, Newport News, Yorktown, and Williamsburg.
Sentara will allow patients in their hospitals and emergency rooms who have not been diagnosed or tested positive with covid-19 to have two visitors at a time if the rate of covid cases in the region remains below five percent for two weeks. This eases a restriction of only one visitor per patient that has been in place for more than 15 months.
Sentara has also announced that surgery patients no longer need to be tested for covid-19 if they can show proof of being fully vaccinated. This would be for people who have met the two-week period after receiving their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single shot of the Johnson & Johnson serum.
However, Sentara still has strict visitation policies in place for patients who have tested positive for covid-19. Confirmed patients or patients waiting to be tested may not have any visitors. Patients who are dying of covid-19 are allowed one visitor in the room if the person wears full protective gear. End-of-life patients who are intubated or on a ventilator can have one visitor if they remain outside the room.
Anyone inside any Sentara healthcare facility, including medical offices, must still wear a mask, as advised by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Visitors who have not met the covid-19 vaccine requirements will continue to be screened for symptoms prior to entering.
