“Wear a Mas” Messages are Popping up All Over Portland. They Were Created under the Auspices of Creative Portland.

On Monday, at his COVID-19 briefing Dr. Nirav Shah, Director of the MaineCDC announced there had been an outbreak of COVID-19 at Maine Medical Center.  Two staff members and one patient have been identified with the deadly virus.  That number of three meets the minimum definition of an outbreak according to the hospital’s spokeswoman, Caroline Cornish.

Maine Medical Center, (MMC),  has announced the implementation of new visitation restrictions effective today, Wednesday, November 18, 2020.  However, these changes are not related to this outbreak at MMC according to Cornish.

They include: Critical Care:  Two visitors daily from 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm.  All other adult inpatient areas:  one visitor daily from 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm.  Outpatient Surgery: procedural areas and ambulatory/diagnostic areas;

Emergency Department:  Visitors are not allowed to wait in the ED. Pediatric patients may be accompanied by two parents/guardians.

Visitation is not changing for The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital.

“We understand that support from families is an important piece of healing for our patients,” said MMC President Jeff Sanders.  “Our goal is to balance that need for family connection with the importance of reducing density in the hospital to keep all of our patients and care team members safe.”