GREENSBORO, N.C. — Tuesday Triad healthcare workers are no longer behind the mask.
“I’ve seen people, faces, full faces, where I haven’t seen them in two years and I didn’t even know what they looked like, you know, from the nose down," said Dr. Sidney Blake with Randolph Health.
“I don’t think we really realized the full impact of what a small gesture such as removing a mask could have until today," said Tabitha Dixon, Randolph Health ICU nursing director.
The latest CDC guidance lets hospitals and healthcare systems make masks optional for workers, visitors, and patients.
Cone Health, Novant Health, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, and Randolph health all moved to mask optional.
“I think that it’s really good for our patient that have hearing deficits that they can go back to reading lips. I think it’s really good for patients and family to see those emotional cues," said Dixon.
Patients may ask their provider to mask up, but besides that request, providers can mostly make that decision on their own.
“As long as you’re feeling well, that is you don’t have a cough, a runny nose, a fever, or anything like that, as long as you haven’t been reached out to by heath at work, you haven’t been exposed to anybody with COVID," said Cone Health's Chief Medical Officer, Jeff Hatcher.
However, there are certain parts of the hospital and situations where masks are still required.
“In the area’s where there’s a lot of immunocompromised patients such as cancer centers and transplant centers," said Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Christopher Ohl at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Experts say fewer COVID-19 infections and lower transmission rates gave way to optional masking even in the most vulnerable fields.
“It really is kind of a milestone for us because it reflects that we’ve come to a place in the pandemic where we’ve left the emergency phase," said Ohl.
Healthcare experts say they are monitoring COVID-19 transmission rates. If those rates spike again, mask mandates could be put back in place.