Hospitals in Kitchener and Cambridge are enacting new screening procedures for visitors in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Starting Monday at Grand River Hospital (GRH) and St Mary’s General Hospital (SMGH) visitors are being screened while new procedures will also come into effect at Cambridge Memorial Hospital (CMH) on Tuesday.
A note on GRH’s website says staff will be asking visitors why they are at the hospital and if they possess any symptoms of coronavirus.
It is also closing or reducing access to some entrances to funnel visitors through the screening locations. They are also asking visitors to maintain their distance from others while at the hospital.
GRH says it will turn away anyone who shows symptoms of COVID-19 during the screening process.
GRH has also cancelled elective surgeries and is closing some outpatient clinics for a minimum of six weeks.
At SMGH, they also began to ask patients about their health prior to entering the building either through the emergency or the main lobby.
All three hospitals say there will be a limit of one visitor per patient at a time.
CMH will be limiting access to the Wing A Emergency, Wing A Main and the Wing D entrances when its screening process begins on Tuesday.
It did not outline exact details of the process it would use but said that everyone would be screened every time they enter the hospital.