These Hospitals Across the US Are Bringing Back Mask Mandates

A nurse at Three Rivers Asante Medical Center runs to a room in the Intensive Care Unit to help as medical staff treat a COVID-19 patient in Grants Pass, Ore., on Sept. 9, 2021. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

Several hospital systems have reinstated mask mandates, citing an increase in COVID-19 cases, and some prominent conservatives have sounded the alarm in recent days.

However, unlike previous iterations, it appears that some of the mask mandates apply only to staff and physicians, not to patients or visitors.

UMass Memorial

In Massachusetts, UMass Memorial Hospital confirmed in a statement last week that it would reimpose masking for staff. Patients and visitors are exempt from the mandate, it stated.