Masking now optional for patients, visitors at Duluth’s St. Luke’s

DULUTH, MN. (Northern News Now) - St. Luke’s also made changes to their masking protocols.

St. Luke’s officials stated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Luke’s has assessed, monitored, and adjusted masking policies as appropriate.

Now, based on the stable number of COVID-19 positive cases within the organization, St. Luke’s made a few changes to their masking policy.

The changes were made effective March 20.

Changes that were made include:

Patients are no longer required to mask unless they are presenting with COVID-19 symptoms.
Visitors are no longer required to mask unless they are visiting a COVID-positive patient.
To minimize the risk of asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 to our patients, staff must continue to mask in patient rooms and for all patient-facing activities.
Unvaccinated employees are required to wear a mask at all times.

“St. Luke’s will continue to closely monitor transmission levels and recommendations from the CDC, as well as levels of infection among employees. We will revisit any policy changes every two weeks,” says hospital officials.