{"id":390290,"date":"2026-01-04T03:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T03:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/390290\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T03:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T03:59:13","slug":"flu-cases-surge-tidalhealth-implements-masking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/390290\/","title":{"rendered":"Flu cases surge, TidalHealth implements masking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wmdt.com\/content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/TidalHealth.png\" data-lb-width=\"1280\" data-lb-height=\"720\" class=\" photoswipe gtxlightbox\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-619480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/TidalHealth-300x169.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>DELMARVA \u2013 Delmarva is seeing a rapid increase in Influenza A and other respiratory illnesses, with confirmed cases reported through TidalHealth tripling in just two weeks in December.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"327\" data-end=\"660\">In response, TidalHealth announced Monday that masks will be required at all locations, including Peninsula Regional, Nanticoke, and Atlantic General Hospital. The policy applies to all staff in patient-facing areas, as well as patients and visitors, with masks available at check-in. No additional screening is currently required.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"662\" data-end=\"981\">\u201cOur priority is the safety of our patients, team members, and community,\u201d said Dr. Trudy Hall, TidalHealth\u2019s senior vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer. \u201cThe sharp rise in Flu A cases in such a short period requires proactive steps to reduce the spread of illness in our healthcare settings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"983\" data-end=\"1263\">TidalHealth also urged residents to get their annual flu shot if they haven\u2019t already. Vaccination helps reduce the severity of illness, prevent complications, and protect vulnerable populations, including older adults, young children, and people with chronic health conditions.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1265\" data-end=\"1496\">\u201cFlu vaccination doesn\u2019t just protect individuals \u2014 it helps protect families, coworkers, and our healthcare system as a whole,\u201d said Angie Brittingham, chief nurse executive at TidalHealth. \u201cIt\u2019s not too late to get vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1498\" data-end=\"1630\">Visitors are reminded to stay home if sick, and everyone is encouraged to practice good hand hygiene and cover coughs and sneezes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DELMARVA \u2013 Delmarva is seeing a rapid increase in Influenza A and other respiratory illnesses, with confirmed cases&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,137,500],"class_list":{"0":"post-390290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}