South Carolina asked hospitals to allow visits only to end-of-life patients to slow the coronavirus

Hospitals all over the US are restricting visitors in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The guidance was perhaps the most strict in South Carolina, where Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday asked all hospitals and overnight medical facilities to only allow visits from patients, with the exception of end-of-life care.

But those were not just aimed at stopping the spread of the virus — they were also meant to preserve vital medical supplies as communities across the country face shortages.

“Visitors going into hospitals are asking for masks, gloves and gowns and other things,” Gov. McMaster said in a news conference. “And what that does is take them away from the people that need them to treat this virus.”

Other hospitals and clinics updated their visitor policies to varying degrees, as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended healthcare facilities assess their visitation policies and limit visitors.

NYC Health + Hospitals, which operates across 70 locations in the city, suspended visitation entirely except in three scenarios: when the visitor is deemed essential to the patient’s care, when the visitor is a family member of legal representative in an end-of-life situation, or when the visitor is there for a woman in labor, an infant in the NICU, or a child. The length of visits will also be restricted.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is restricting its public entrances and limiting visits to one visitor a day for adults, and two adults a day can visit children. Additionally all visitors have to be healthy, and will be screened for flu-like symptoms at hospital entrances. Anyone who exhibits a fever, cough or shortness of breath will not be allowed to enter.

Piedmont Healthcare, which operates 11 hospitals across North Georgia, restricted visitation to “zero to one visitor” for each patient, and no children under the age of 13.

In its “Safer at Home” order, issued Thursday, Los Angeles recommended that no one visit loved ones in hospitals or nursing facilities, outside of a handful of exceptions, “such as if you are going to the hospital with a minor who is under 18 or someone who is developmentally disabled and needs assistance.” Otherwise, “non-necessary visitation” is prohibited.

“This is difficult,” guidelines from the city read, “but necessary in order to protect hospital staff and other patients.”

The changes to hospital visitation policies echoed those previously put in place at nursing homes and assisted living centers across the country, which were an early focal point as the outbreaks began to crop up in the US.