NEW: Visitation Suspended at Lifespan Hospitals Due to Coronavirus

NEW: Visitation Suspended at Lifespan Hospitals Due to Coronavirus

Lifespan has announced that no visitors will be allowed in adult units at any Lifespan hospitals due to the outbreak of coronavirus in Rhode Island.

According to Lifespan, Hasbro Children’s Hospital and Bradley Hospital will have modified policies to allow for accompaniment by one parent.

Newport Hospital maternity services will allow for a birthing partner only.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Further, parents arriving at the emergency department will be limited to one accompanying adult, and that person’s duration of stay inpatient areas will be minimized.

“We have decided after great deliberation to take this step in these highly unusual circumstances to protect our patients and our workforce. We understand this is a great hardship to both patients and families, but we know that older and sicker people are most vulnerable to this novel coronavirus, and after careful evaluation of the evolving risks of transmission, we felt it was the most prudent thing to do,” said Timothy J. Babineau, M.D., president and CEO of Lifespan. 

According to Lifespan, they are continuing to monitor and evaluate the situation.

Coronavirus in RI and MA

As GoLocalProv reported, there are currently three cases of coronavirus in Rhode Island. 

According to RIDOH, the most recent case is a female in her 60s. 

This person was tested because she was symptomatic and had direct, face-to-face contact with a person with confirmed COVID-19 in New York in late February

In Massachusetts, there have been 28 confirmed cases, 15 of which were announced on Sunday, as GoLocal reported. 

All 15 cases had a direct connection to the Biogen employee conference in late February.

According to DPH, the presumptive positive cases include five from Suffolk County ranging in age from 30s to 60s; five from Middlesex County ranging in age from 40s to 60s; four cases from Norfolk County ranging in age from 40s to 60s; and a female whose age and county of residence are unknown at the time of this release. Among today’s presumptive positive cases were eight men and seven women.