With COVID cases trending downward in the communities Guthrie serves, masking is now optional in all areas at all Guthrie locations, the health provider announced Wednesday.
“According to CDC guidelines, it is the county transmission rate that determines when a health care organization can safely begin to make changes to COVID masking precautions,” said Dr. Lisa Marie Esolen, executive vice president and chief quality officer at Guthrie. “We will continue to monitor COVID transmission and prevalence throughout the counties that we serve and will adjust our masking policy accordingly if cases increase.”
In addition, effective May 1, Guthrie will no longer require COVID pre-procedure or pre-admission testing on patients with no symptoms. All patients will be screened for COVID-19 signs, symptoms, and exposure prior to their scheduled procedure.
Guthrie, based in Sayre, Pennsylvania, operates Guthrie Cortland Medical Center and four other hospitals, plus other facilities.
Cortland County: No new cases
Cortland County reported no new case of COVID-19 Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began remaining 13,677, the state Health Department reports.
Tompkins and Cayuga counties reported seven new cases Wednesday, the state reported. The three counties have seen 61,598 cases since the pandemic began in March 2020. The number of people who have died from the virus remains 424.
