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Children's Hospital to begin screening parents, visitors

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Posted at 5:06 PM, Mar 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-24 17:07:09-04

CINCINNATI — Starting Wednesday, Children’s Hospital will take the temperatures of parents, visitors and workers before allowing them into patient-care areas at its main Burnet Avenue location.

The hospital announced Tuesday it would begin screening everyone by taking their temperatures and asking them a pair of questions about their recent health history:

In the past 24 hours, have you had a cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, sore throat or body aches?  

In the past 24 hours have you had a fever of 100.4 F (38.0 C) or above?  

People who do not pass the screening cannot enter patient-care areas except under very special circumstances, spokeswoman Shannon Kettler wrote in a news release.

“If a single parent is with a child for an urgent visit but does not pass the screening, the parent will be given a mask and allowed to go ahead to the urgent appointment,” she wrote.

Children’s closed three locations — Eastgate, Mason and Northern Kentucky — Tuesday in response to ongoing concerns about COVID-19. Appointments originally scheduled for those locations will be rescheduled at another campus or conducted remotely.

Urgent care remains available in Cincinnati, Liberty Township, Anderson Township and Green Township.