Noel Montalvo released
Noel Montalvo spoke shortly after he was released from York County Prison on Monday. The release came after murder charges against him were dismissed.
In response to increasing levels of respiratory virus infections, at least one area hospital system will begin to require masks again.
UPMC will require masks in all of its facilities starting Wednesday.
"UPMC is seeing an increase in cases of respiratory viruses, including Covid, influenza and RSV. To protect the health and safety of our employees, patients and visitors, everyone in our health care facilities will wear effective masks which reduce transmission of respiratory viruses in health care settings starting Wednesday, Dec. 20," UPMC spokesperson Malini Mattler said via email.
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"We will continue to monitor the number of cases in our communities and adjust our protocols as the situation evolves."
In contrast, WellSpan Health is not requiring masking at this time, with some exceptions, spokesperson Ryan Coyle said via email.
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Those exceptions include when you're suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19, for 10 days following a high-risk exposure to COVID, when visiting an immunocompromised patient, in an area or department designated as requiring masks due to critical patient care and when cleared to return to work following a positive test until all symptoms are fully resolved.
"Our infectious disease team continues to monitor the latest trends related to this respiratory virus season that includes the spread of RSV, flu and COVID-19," Coyle said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, York County is currently at a "low" rate for COVID-19 hospital admissions. For the week of Dec. 9, York County saw six hospital admissions per 100,000.
In the email, Coyle also noted that WellSpan encourages people to receive their bivalent booster when eligible to protect against COVID-19.
"This immunization is safe to receive at the same time as the annual influenza vaccine," Coyle wrote.
According to CNN, a new COVID subvariant is growing dominant, especially in the Northeast. CDC data projects that subvariant JN.1 is responsible for about 20% of new COVID-19 infections in the U.S. and about a third of the new infections in the Northeast.
“When I just look at the growth curve, it is rising quite sharply, and it seems to coincide with the Thanksgiving break in terms of timing,” Dr. Shishi Luo, who heads infectious diseases for the genomic sequencing company Helix, told CNN.
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However, as reported by CNN, a recent study from Dr. David Ho’s lab at Columbia University found that the current vaccine offers good protection against BA.2.86 and its offshoots, including JN.1.
Meanwhile, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health's respiratory illness dashboard, 982 cases of influenza have been reported in York County through Dec. 16 and 798 cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have been reported..
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— Reach Matt Enright via email at [email protected] or via Twitter at @Matthew_Enright.
