Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - Many hospitals in Hesse will retain a few points even after most of the corona protection measures have expired, such as masks or visiting hours. Since March 1, visitors no longer have to bring a corona test when visiting someone in the hospital. Masks for employees are actually no longer required.
At the Frankfurt University Hospital, Hesse's largest hospital, the employees "in the immediate patient care" will initially continue to work with mouth and nose protection, as Medical Director Jürgen Graf reported. According to his knowledge, around 80 percent of the clinics in Hesse think so.
The reason is that, on the one hand, the number of patients who - in addition to the illness for which they are hospitalized - is also diagnosed with a corona infection by chance has increased again. On the other hand, there are still some infected people among the staff and thus failures. "It would also be strange that visitors would have to continue to wear masks, but the staff involved in patient care would not," said Graf.
Graf finds it "sensible and appropriate" that visitors no longer need a test as of this week. However, the university hospital wants to keep another restriction: limited visiting hours. These have been significantly expanded, but guests are still only allowed to come in the afternoon and should be limited to two people per patient and day.
As a reason, Graf said that it had a positive effect on the recovery of the patients and the burden on the staff "if the house and the hospital rooms are not so full". In his estimation, the majority of Hessian clinics handle it that way.
Graf assumes that the hospitals will refrain from all measures when the Infection Protection Act expires completely on April 7th. To protect the patients, the hygiene plans of the respective departments apply again, for example in intensive care units or in oncology, as was the case before the pandemic began. Graf thinks that's a good thing: "Corona is now a seasonal infectious disease like others."
