Flu Concerns Prompt Visitor Restrictions At Middlesex Health

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Due to a “significant increase in the prevalence of the flu,” Middlesex Health is limiting who can visit or accompany patients at its facilities, officials announced Wednesday. The restrictions are effective immediately and apply throughout Middlesex Health’s service locations, including, but not limited to, the Middlesex Hospital main campus in Middletown, its two satellite emergency departments in Westbrook and Marlborough and its outpatient surgical center on Saybrook Road in Middletown.

Officials say anyone with flu-like symptoms shouldn’t visit or accompany patients. Symptoms of the flu can include having a fever, vomiting, coughing, diarrhea, body aches and headaches.

Only immediate family members or a designated support person are allowed to visit or accompany patients, officials said. No one under the age of 18 is allowed to visit or accompany patients unless special permission is granted and only two visitors will be allowed at a time.

Visitors at a Middlesex Health facility must “clean their hands and wear a mask to ensure their safety and the safety of others,” according to officials.

“Limiting the number of visitors per patient is in the best interest of patients, staff and guests,” officials wrote in a press release. “Middlesex Health always strives to provide the safest, highest-quality health care and the best experience possible to the community, and this is one way to ensure that it continues to do so.

“The flu is a serious illness that should not be ignored. If you have not received a flu shot, you are encouraged to get one. It is not too late. If you have an upper respiratory infection with or without a fever, please refrain from visiting a Middlesex patient or accompanying anyone to a Middlesex Health facility. If you think you have the flu, it is best to contact your doctor because the flu can cause serious complications.”

While Middlesex Health is not implementing visitor restrictions due to the new coronavirus, officials say it is “important to note that the symptoms of the coronavirus overlap with symptoms of the flu.”

“Middlesex Health’s three Emergency Department locations are prepared to evaluate high risk patients who have symptoms of coronavirus,” officials wrote. “High risk patients include those who have visited China or who have had contact with someone who has the coronavirus in the past 14 days.

“If possible, it is important that you talk to your primary care physician before heading to an emergency department, unless your symptoms are severe; you have a respiratory illness and have traveled to China in the past 14 days; or you have been in contact with a patient diagnosed with or exposed to the coronavirus.”