Alberta hospitals have stopped allowing visitors for patients

Alberta hospitals will no longer allow in-person visits to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the province.

Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw made the announcement in a press conference Friday, saying the measures are a result of the community transmission being seen in the province.

“As we see additional cases and we know there is community transmission happening, especially in our large centres, it becomes evermore important that we are minimizing the chance that someone may unwittingly bring in a virus to a hospital,” said Hinshaw.

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Previous health measures at hospitals included restricting children from visiting, as well as ensuring visitors have a screening check before entering hospital doors.

The new rules will have some exceptions, to be determined on a case-by-case situation, including children admitted to hospital, or women giving birth.

Hinshaw says the details on these exceptions will be made public in the coming days, after consultation with Alberta Health Services.

“The fewer people who come in to any given place, the more the chances are reduced that the virus could be brought in,” said Hinshaw.

“I believe it is the correct thing to do, to make sure we are limiting as much as possible the risk of spread in a hospital, where we have people who are already very sick.”