Cooper University Hospital is the latest healthcare provider to require masks to be worn by all patients and visitors at their locations starting on Friday.
Officials say that this mandate is because of the recent spike in respiratory viruses throughout the Philadelphia region.
The masking mandate includes the Cooper University Hospital and the Cooper Ambulatory Locations.
This comes as Main Line Health issued a masking requirement that started on Thursday.
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The renewed push for mask-wearing comes as many are heading back to work and school after the holiday season and are bringing a surge of winter illnesses with them.
It is pretty common to see a spike this time of year after holiday gatherings made it easy to pass germs around.
From COVID, Flu and RSV infections are up across much of the country and in our area. The latest data from the CDC shows more than 30 states are seeing high or very high flu activity.
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Despite the infection surge, the CDC says that only 18% of Americans have gotten the latest COVID booster while less than half of adults have gotten their flu shots.
ChristianaCare and Tower Health are also urging all patients and visitors to wear masks. Officials with each provider say that mask-wearing is not required, but strongly encouraged.
