Staff, patients and visitors to Parkes Hospital - and all district health services - must now wear a face mask.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Health District Chief Executive Scott McLachlan is urging the community to be prepared and to bring their own mask.
The requirement applies to everyone over 12 years of age.
"This is an increased infection control measure to reduce the risk of the community transmission of COVID-19," he said.
All visitors must wear a mask when they are in any of our health facilities.
- Mark Spittal, Western Local Area Health District
"All visitors are required to wear a mask if they are coming into a health facility for any reason.
"If they are already wearing a cloth or surgical mask, they can continue to wear this.
"A mask will be provided during wellness screening when you enter the hospital if you don't have a mask already."
All health services will have posters on display, to assist visitors use their masks correctly.
"If visitors have underlying health issues that they believe might prevent them from wearing a mask, they should contact their local health service before they visit to get advice," Mr McLachlan said.
All staff working within 1.5m of any patient will wear surgical masks.
"Where possible, patients coming to a health service will be required to wear a mask and those patients already in hospital will be required to wear a mask outside their clinical area/ward," Mr McLachlan said.
"At this stage, children 12 years old and under are not required to wear a mask if they do not have any symptoms."
Everyone is asked to continue to practice physical distancing and good hand hygiene.
Screening processes including temperature checking also apply.
ALSO MAKING NEWS: