A funny thing happened on the way to the winter peak of the COVID-19, flu, and RSV seasons:
Hospital systems in New Jersey went back to requiring that staff, patients and visitors wear surgical masks on their premises. The intention is to prevent a new seasonal epidemic of one, or all, of the maladies as the number of cases trend upward.
The reaction to the edicts, which, in South Jersey, have been issued by Inspira, Cooper and Virtua facilities among others, has been mild — as we hope this infection season will be. Some North Jersey and Jersey Shore hospital systems went back to mask requirements as long ago as last fall.