Overlook Med Center In Summit Limits Visitors Amid Coronavirus

SUMMIT, NJ - As novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, continues to spread, Atlantic Health has tightened visitor policies at its hospitals, including Overlook Medical Center in Summit and Morristown Medical Center.

"The safety and well-being of our patients, visitors, and team members is our number one priority," said an Atlantic Health spokesman.

The following restrictions are in place:

• Visiting Hours: 8 a.m. through 8 p.m.
• No visitors under the age of 18
• Visitors for inpatient areas will be limited to two per patient
• Visitors for procedural areas, waiting room areas, infusion centers, and the Emergency Department will be limited to one visitor per patient
• Visitors for the newborn nursery, labor and delivery rooms, and mother/baby inpatient rooms will be restricted to one support person throughout the length of the stay at the hospital. Mothers must designate this individual upon admission to the center. This includes ante-partum mothers (mothers who are inpatient due to pre-term complications).
• Visitors for the NICU, Pediatric Inpatient Units, and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit will be restricted to a maximum of two parents or caregivers.

Visitors for all other sites of care, including physician offices, infusion centers, urgent care, and any other sites for outpatient care, will be limited to one visitor per patient.

Officials noted that animals are not allowed in their facilities, except for service animals.

"Additionally, out of an abundance of caution, and in order to reduce the potential for the transmission of illnesses, we are cancelling all maternity tours at this time," officials said. "We are exploring alternatives to an in-person visit, such as virtual tours for expectant parents to experience our maternity centers at Morristown Medical Center, Overlook Medical Center, Chilton Medical Center and Newton Medical Center. Also, starting today, we have cancelled maternity classes and are exploring online alternatives there as well."

Those interested in these services are asked to contact the centers with any questions.

"We will continue to monitor how this virus affects our communities and are continually evaluating our policies," officials said.

On Thursday afternoon, state officials announced that there have been a total of 29 documented cases of the virus in New Jersey, and one person has died. The numbers can be tracked in New Jersey via this link.

And you can use this link to read about other New Jersey school closures.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

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Russ Crespolini contributed to this story.