Mass General Brigham employees are no longer required to wear masks when interacting with patients. The change affects two Brigham sites in Jamaica Plain: Faulkner Hospital and Brookside Community Health Center.
In a letter to patients, Mass General Brigham's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tom Sequist explained the change.
"We have been monitoring respiratory virus activity in our community since the fall. Respiratory viruses in our community have been decreasing for several weeks. We have now returned to a mild/moderate level of activity," wrote Sequist. "At this activity level, Mass General Brigham employees are no longer required to wear masks during direct interactions with patients. Direct interactions with patients are in patient rooms or other clinical care areas where care is provided."
Patients were encouraged to contact their individual Brigham care team before an in-person appointment if they have a fever, flu-like symptoms, known COVID infection in the past 10 days, or known exposure to COVID within the last 10 days. Patients meeting any of those criteria must wear a mask that will be provided. And anyone is still welcome to wear a mask to appointments.