MIT Medical reinstates masking mandate for clinical staff
In an email to the MIT community, Dr. Cecilia Stuopis, Chief Health Officer of MIT Medical, stated that MIT Medical would implement a masking requirement for all clinical staff in Cambridge and Lexington care centers starting Jan. 8. Other local healthcare systems, including Mass General Brigham, have enacted a similar policy.
Stuopis said that patients will be “encouraged” to wear masks, but patients will be required to wear masks if they have “symptoms of upper respiratory infection or who are within 10 days of a positive COVID-19 test or exposure.”
The rationale behind MIT Medical’s decision to reinstate the masking requirement is due to a rise in influenza and COVID-19 cases. Stuopis said, “we’ve observed COVID-19 wastewater levels in eastern Massachusetts rising steadily since the Thanksgiving holiday.”
Stuopis noted that the masking measures “will continue until further notice.”
Masks are available in all entrances and lobbies of MIT Medical facilities as well as campus vending machines.