In the latest sign of COVID-19’s resurgence in New Hampshire, the state’s largest hospital, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, has returned to a restrictive policy on visitors.
Further, the center said Thursday, COVID-19 testing has resumed for all patients being admitted to DHMC in Lebanon, regardless of their vaccination status. Patients admitted from an outside hospital must have a new COVID-19 test at DHMC, the statement said.
The number of new cases of COVID-19 in New Hampshire have doubled in recent weeks to about 250 a day, and hospitalizations have quadrupled since July.
Under the revised visitor policy, adult inpatients are allowed one visitor per day. Pediatric inpatients are permitted to have two caregivers. For ambulatory (outpatient) visits, both adults and children are permitted one caregiver. Two caregivers are allowed for newborn/infant appointments. For births, two adult support people are permitted during the entire stay: before, during and after the birth.
DHMC had similar policies in effect through the winter but relaxed them when COVID-19 numbers began falling in the spring.
The updated procedures can be found on the D-H website.