Patient visitor restrictions are still in place at Geary Community Hospital.

Officials noted that the timeline for the restriction is indefinite.

Dawn Engel, Chief Nursing Officer, said that restrictions aren’t uncommon for hospitals during the flu season.

“Last year our flu season was a little milder, so we didn’t do it last year, but the year prior to that we did; in watching our positive flu swabs come back and monitoring the state and the nation, we just felt it was time to implement these safeguards for the patients and the staff as well,” said Engel.

The particular strain of flu that is going around tends to linger for several weeks.

“The symptoms are much more severe, and they’re more of a gradual process that comes on after three or four days and then it kind of hangs on for a while and that’s one thing that we have noticed this season is that this is kind of a lingering flu,” said Nikki Davies, Marketing/Public Relations Director for GCH.

According to the CDC, symptoms of the flu include, but are not limited to:

• fever/feverish chills
• cough
• sore throat
• runny or stuffy nose
• muscle/body aches
• fatigue

If you are sick, stay home – do not infect others at work or school.

“Stay home to avoid spreading the bug, and wash your hands with soap and warm water – that’s the key to infection control, washing your hands,” said Davies. Davies suggests singing the birthday song while washing your hands to ensure that the proper time is spent cleaning.

“That’s something that the hospital in general promotes is preventive health…and that’s something that we’re trying to work toward is having healthy lifestyles so you can prevent yourself from coming down with the common cold or the flu,” said Davies.

GCH officials said that it is not too late to get a flu shot. The flu season is still in full swing.

For more information, contact Geary Community Hospital at 238-4131.