It has just been revealed that a New York man who was showing symptoms of coronavirus hid them just so he could see his wife in a hospital maternity ward after she had given birth.
This incident reportedly occurred last week at Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital, which is part of the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), according to the Democrat And Chronicle. Hospital officials realized what had happened when the mother starting exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 shortly after giving birth, at which time her husband finally admitted what he had done.
“The patient in question and her partner were in a private maternity room throughout their hospital stay,” said Chip Partner, a URMC spokesman. “Both the mother and partner were isolated from other patients.”
“The mother became symptomatic shortly after delivering. That’s when the significant other admitted his potential exposure and that he was feeling symptomatic,” he continued, going on to add that he could not disclose whether or not the mother and her child tested positive for coronavirus due to privacy laws.
Hospital officials informed staffers who had come in contact with the couple about the situation and urged them to take the necessary precautions with their health. One staffer subsequently began to feel ill and asked to be allowed to quarantine at home, only to later test negative for the virus.
The hospital officially updated it’s visitation rule son Friday, enacting a “zero-visitation policy” for most hospital visits. The new guidelines only allow for one visitor for the birth and throughout the postpartum period leading up to hospital discharge. Upon arriving at the hospital, this visitor will be screened and have their temperature taken before being permitted to enter the maternity ward, and anyone who shows symptoms of coronavirus will be asked to leave.
“It was purely an honor system before,” explained Partner. “Now we’re adding the temperature check.”
At the time of this writing, there are 92,472 confirmed cases of coronavirus in New York state, which has been hit especially hard by this pandemic.
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