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Mid-Michigan hospitals implementing visitor restrictions due to flu widespread

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This article appeared in ABC 12. Read more here.

The state of Michigan is getting hit hard by illnesses.

According to a map from the healthcare company Kinsa, Michigan is the second sickest state in the U.S. right now with more than 7% of people under the weather.

That includes more than the flu, and some mid-Michigan hospitals are being proactive to make sure things don’t get any worse. Beginning Tuesday, McLaren Flint and Ascension hospitals across the state are implementing temporary visitor restrictions.

They say even people not showing flu symptoms can easily pass the flu on to others. The ones facing the most risk are the young and the elderly, but hospitals like McLaren Flint hope this visitor policy will be good for everybody.

If you’ve had the symptoms before, you know it’s not your everyday common cold.

“A lot of them are going to have upper respiratory symptoms: stuffy noses, runny noses, sore throat, cough, congestion. Then you have body aches, fevers, chills, a little bit of nausea, some GI symptoms, headache, neck pain,” emergency medical physician, Dr. Gjon Dushaj said.

Dr. Dushaj says even if visitors don’t know they have the symptoms, they can spread. If they do, it could be life-threatening for those patients trying to get better.

“For some people, it could be the thing that pushes them over the edge. You don’t know which patients that’s going to be, so if it’s your loved one, we wouldn’t want your loved one to be exposed to it or made sicker because of the flu,” Dr. Dushaj said.

That’s why hospitals like McLaren Flint will implement temporary visitor restrictions beginning Tuesday. Expect to see protective masks, hand sanitizer, and even greeters monitoring the entrances.

Anyone with flu like symptoms like a cough, sore throat, or runny nose, especially kids under 12 are asked not to visit patients in the hospital.

“I think it’s a great idea because it’s packed, and you’re just going to create more havoc for the hospitals,” visitor Holly Walterhouse said.

Dr. Dushaj says vaccines are still available and good general habits will keep you healthier like sleeping, eating, and drinking well, washing your hands, and watching what you touch.

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