Advent Health is again limiting visitors after a surge in coronavirus cases. The rule change will affect six hospitals in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
The hospitals include:
- AdventHealth Carrollwood, 7171 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa.
- AdventHealth Tampa, 3100 E Fletcher Ave., Tampa.
- AdventHealth Dade City, 13100 Fort King Road, Dade City.
- AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, 2600 Bruce B Downs Blvd., Wesley Chapel.
- AdventHealth Zephyrhills, 7050 Gall Blvd., Zephyrhills.
- AdventHealth North Pinellas, 1395 S Pinellas Ave., Tarpon Springs.
The hospital system is restricting non-COVID patients to one visitor per day to try to limit the spread of the omicron variant.
Patients diagnosed with COVID are limited to telephone and virtual visits.
Exceptions for patients, regardless of COVID status, could be made for an end-of-life situation, or "extraordinary circumstances as approved by campus leadership."
Two visitors at-a-time are allowed if an exception is made.
Masks are still required for anyone entering any AdventHealth hospital regardless of vaccination status.
On Sunday, Florida joined California and Texas in reaching more than 5 million COVID-19 cases since tracking began.
It had previously taken months for the state to add 1 million cases. But Florida's total grew from 4 million to past 5 million in less three weeks.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state added 49,339 cases on Saturday.
Last week, the Florida Department of Health reported 430,297 new cases. That included 75,924 new cases in the greater Tampa Bay region, up from 63,323 the week before.
Medical experts are asking people not to go to the emergency room for COVID testing if they have mild or no symptoms.
WUSF has created a guide to help you keep up to date on the latest information about the coronavirus and its impacts to Florida, including where to get tested, here.
