Alberta Health Services (AHS) has adopted an enhanced masking directive at acute care sites to help prevent transmission of COVID-19 within these facilities.
The Use of Masks to Prevent Transmission of COVID-19 Directive, which came into effect on Wednesday, October 11, will allow zone leadership to require enhanced masking by all AHS staff, physicians, midwives, students, volunteers, contracted service providers, as well as workers at Alberta Precision Laboratories in acute care facilities.
Additionally, where the enhanced measures are implemented, masking would be required for patients, designated support persons and visitors in Emergency Departments in acute care facilities. No patient shall be denied services.
Masking will also continue to be required for workers, family/support persons and visitors when:
• Recommended during an outbreak by the Medical Officer of Health according to the Communicable Disease Control Outbreak Guides;
• For staff, as identified by the Attending Work with COVID-19 Symptoms or a Positive COVID-19 Test;
• Or when in contact with a severely immunocompromised individual.
This directive supports zone and site leadership to determine if enhanced masking is necessary, and can include patient care areas, elevators/staircases/hallways, common areas, gift shops, and cafeterias where patient contact could occur in acute care facilities.
Decisions to implement enhanced masking will be based on several factors which consider rate of hospitalizations, number of outbreaks, occupancy, test positivity, and situational context. Site signage will indicate when enhanced masking is being implemented.
Wearing a mask is optional for AHS workers when they are in an area where there is no contact with patients (staff break rooms/meeting rooms, corporate settings, health records departments).
Masking is also optional at continuing care and Addiction and Mental Health settings that are not within an acute care site. However, AHS continues to respect the choice to voluntarily wear a mask in all areas and encourages those who want to wear a mask to continue to wear one.
AHS continues to rely on data, and will engage clinical experts, unions, frontline healthcare workers and other key stakeholders to help determine requirements for enhanced masking.
Masking is just one strategy out of a package of preventive measures. As always, all staff are encouraged to mask, stay home when ill and, to continue to practice diligent hand hygiene as part of ongoing efforts to keep patients, families and each other safe and healthy.