Protect Our Patients This Holiday Seasons

The advice to people wanting to visit friends and loved ones at Taranaki Base Hospital this festive season is to stay at home if they are feeling unwell.

Following the recent outbreak of a Pertussis (whooping cough) epidemic, as well as COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses still circulating in the community, we are asking people to be vigilant if they are visiting loved ones.

Taranaki Infection Prevention Control Clinical Nurse Specialist, Melissa Wildbore, says we will continue to welcome and encourage visitors during the holiday season; however, if people are unwell, we ask that they wait until they have been symptom free for 48 hours.

“We understand that an important part of a patient’s recovery is having their loved ones around them, especially around Christmas time, and we will continue to encourage that.

“What we’d like to avoid is our patients picking up an infection such as gastro or a respiratory illness from a visitor.”

People can be infectious for about one week when they have a respiratory illness, but for some illnesses such as COVID-19, the infectious period can be longer. People can spread an illness to others even if they are feeling better, which is why it is very important to take extra precautions.

These precautions include:

• Check that your immunisations are up to date. It’s one of the best ways to protect against a number of vaccine-preventable illnesses, such as pertussis, COVID-19, and MMR.
• During a hospital visit, consider wearing a mask, regularly wash hands, use hand-sanitiser, and cough or sneeze into your elbow.

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