Triad area hospitals institute visitor restrictions amid wave of respiratory illness

Rising cases of respiratory illnesses including influenza, RSV and COVID-19 have caused some North Carolina health systems to try and stop the spread within their hospitals. 

In the Piedmont, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, CaroMont Health, Cone Health and Novant Health will implement visitor restrictions for children 12 and under. The changes go into effect on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 7 a.m. 

Dr. Christopher Ohl, an infectious diseases expert at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, said cases in the area are high, but he’s not seeing anything out of the ordinary for the cold and flu season. 

Ohl said it's influenza, more than COVID-19 and RSV, that’s landing people in the hospital. He added there are more cases of the flu this year than in any other year post-pandemic. 

"It’s keeping our emergency rooms busy, it’s keeping our hospitals busy," Ohl said during a press briefing. "Not anything that can’t be handled in the region but every year during respiratory viral season we have more admissions and this year is no different than usual."

According to the North Carolina Respiratory Virus Summary Dashboard, hospital admissions related to viruses like the flu and COVID-19 have also been on the rise.

During the last week of November, the number of admissions was 989. In the first week of January, that figure was over 2,000.  
 

Santiago Ochoa covers healthcare for WFDD in partnership with Report For America. Follow him on X and Instagram: @santi8a98