Hospitals limit visitation as new flu strain spreads across Eastern Carolina
by Emilia Paz
Mon, January 5, 2026 at 5:39 PM
“Fischer said people can spread the flu for up to two days before showing symptoms, which increases the risk in hospital settings…
Health officials also stress frequent handwashing as one of the most effective ways to prevent illness.
“In addition to CarolinaEast, ECU Health, Carteret Health Care, and Onslow Memorial Hospital have also implemented visitation restrictions as they work to prevent further spread of the flu.“
Onslow Memorial Hospital
Under the new guidelines, visitors 11 years old and younger are prohibited from all inpatient areas and waiting rooms.
In addition, any visitors showing respiratory symptoms are also prohibited from those areas, regardless of age.
Healthy visitors of any age are still allowed in hospital lobbies and retail or food service locations.
ECU Health
Due to high volumes, ECU Health may ask visitors to wait in an alternate off-unit location to adhere with facility safety protocols.
Carteret Health Care
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Carteret Health Care is currently experiencing higher-than-expected levels of influenza. Because respiratory illnesses can spread quickly in larger groups, we highly encourage limiting visitors to 1 - 2 individuals at this time to help keep our patients and staff safe.
LINK:https://wcti12.com/news/local/hospitals-limit-visitation-as-new-flu-strain-spreads-across-eastern-carolinaCOMMENT:
“Fischer said people can spread the flu for up to two days before showing symptoms, which increases the risk in hospital settings…“
..So here are three hospitals that aren’t going to use masks.
“Healthy visitors of any age are still allowed in hospital lobbies and retail or food service locations”
...I suppose the hospital doesnt think the flu can exist up to two days before showing symptoms, which increases the risk in hospital lobbies and retail or food service locations.
..So hospitals admit they aren't taking measures to protect visitors and guests from the contagious illness that the patients bring in as well. Not a single hospital as of yet has said: Wear a mask so you don't catch the flu because we have patients with the flu here.
I don’t believe for a moment that the hospitals mentioned in this article who are busy caring for flu victims and in the midst of a flu outbreak nationwide have time to fully diagnose all these maskless healthy people moreover even if they were able to determine the health of guests and visitors I certainly don’t see any efforts to protect them from the flu by suggesting mask usage along with other precautions.
Moreover I see nothing that signifies that staff is going to mask and use precautions such as masking to prevent the spread of airborne illness betwixt them, their patients or the visitors and guests even if the visitors and guests are perfectly healthy.
.. sounds like they are hosting a super spreader event by their own admission.
…Sounds like they definitely aren’t going to suggest to those they magically have deemed to be healthy to take precautions such as masking to prevent their healthy individuals from catching the flu from their patients.
I guess the hospitals here are under the false impression their staff don’t have to mask because they are healthy and ‘healthy’ doctors and nurses here also don’t have to mask because they are healthy and haven’t caught the flu yet while exposing themselves to the flu despite Fischer having said “people can spread the flu for up to two days before showing symptoms, which increases the risk in hospital settings”
There certainly doesn’t seem to be any building design or infrastructure in place in the engineering sense …nothing -about the building design or it’s rooms, elevators and corridors and waiting rooms that can prevent the virus and the airborne illness and disease from having great success spreading and finding hosts to multiply in betwixt the healthy and the sick.
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