Spectrum Health COVID-19 information and resources.

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

People at higher risk include people:

• Age 65 and older
• With underlying health conditions such as:
  • Heart or lung disease
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
• Who have weakened immune systems.

The CDC website has a comprehensive listing of people at higher risk.

If you have had seasonal allergy symptoms and these are similar symptoms to what you had during previous seasons, you are most likely experiencing seasonal allergies. If you have never had seasonal allergies before, but all of a sudden have symptoms, this is less likely to be new onset allergies. Allergist and immunologist Nicholas Hartog, MD, provides clarity between seasonal allergies and the virus in this Health Beat article:

• Is it allergies or COVID-19? - Symptom Checker

The measures Spectrum Health has implemented to increase safety and limit unnecessary exposure are:

• Extra cleaning throughout all facilities and frequent cleaning of high-touch areas while adhering to rigorous quality and safety practices and infection prevention guidelines.
• Providing appropriate PPE for our team members.
• Screening all team members, patients and visitors before they enter the building, and only allowing a very limited number of visitors.
• Temperature checks for all patients and visitors upon entry.
• Requiring everyone to use hand sanitizer and put on a mask upon entry. In hospitals and clinic settings, face masks are required in hallways, common areas and clinical spaces.
• Social distancing floor signage to maintain CDC guidelines.
• Patients who have COVID-19 and need to be admitted to the hospital are isolated with additional precautions.

Yes, it is safe to go to any of our emergency departments and urgent care clinics. We are strictly following the CDC guidelines and use thorough cleaning and disinfecting procedures and the proper personal protective equipment to keep patients and staff safe as we attend to all emergent and essential medical needs. To keep everyone safe, you will be asked to sanitize your hands and put on a mask when you arrive. Masks are available onsite for your use.

Our ambulatory clinic/offsite clinics follow the same protective guidelines and thorough disinfecting procedures the hospitals use. We also have extra cleaning rotations throughout all of our facilities and frequent cleaning of high touch areas. To keep everyone safe, you will be asked to sanitize your hands and put on a mask when you arrive. Masks are available onsite for your use. Visitors with COVID-19 symptoms may not accompany patients.

Yes. To protect our team members and patients from increasing community spread of COVID-19, every person entering Spectrum Health hospitals or clinics must wear the standard isolation mask provided upon arrival. If you would like, you may wear your own mask under the standard isolation mask that is provided to you.

To best protect our team members and patients from increasing community spread of COVID-19, please wear the standard isolation mask provided to you upon entering. If you would like, you may wear your own mask under the standard isolation mask that is provided to you.

Healthy adult visitors are encouraged. However, we have some visiting restrictions in effect at this time. All visitors will be asked health screening questions and have their temperature checked upon arrival. Visitors with COVID-19 symptoms or temperatures greater than 100.4 degrees will be asked to visit at another time.

Even though you don’t have any symptoms, you may be a carrier of COVID-19 or even test positive. Masking works two ways: It can help to protect you against potential infection, and it protects others, too. It is an effective method to reduce transmission of COVID-19. In Spectrum Health facilities, adults and children 5 and up are required to wear hospital-grade masks. Children age 2 to 4 are encouraged to wear hospital-grade or cloth masks.

The most effective ways to keep COVID-19 out of your home are:

• Wash hands often and for 20 seconds.
• You should clean and disinfect often as a measure of prevention in your home. Clean with soap and water, disinfect with bleach solution where appropriate or other household disinfectants.
• High touch surfaces such as tables, sinks, light switches and phones should be frequently cleaned
• Soft surfaces should be laundered if possible
• Wash hands before and after doing laundry
• Wash laundry on highest appropriate temperature
• Clean and disinfect clothes hampers

Sanitizing lowers the number of germs or viruses to a safer level, but it doesn’t eradicate them.

If you’re looking to kill the virus that causes COVID-19, eliminate it from your kitchen countertops, touchpoints, steering wheel, etc. You’re ideally aiming to clean, disinfect and then clean again.

This Health Beat article offers must-know instructions on cleaning and disinfecting your home from our own microbiologist:

• COVID-19: Know your disinfectant

It’s important to stay informed through social media, the news, and television. But if you notice you’re beginning to feel overwhelmed or anxious, then time it’s to cut down on it. Here are some helpful reminders to help you from Leisha Cuddihy, PhD, a clinical psychologist with Spectrum Health:

• COVID-19: Take time to disengage

People with obsessive compulsive disorder can struggle trying to differentiate between their helpful actions and their harmful actions. Staying mentally grounded can be a challenge for those already battling worries about germs or invisible threats—but there are techniques to ease the tension. Melanie Grube, LMSW outlines effective strategies in this Health Beat article:

• COVID-19: Difficult days for those with OCD

If you are eating while stressed or anxious and worrying about COVID-19, you are likely to get a stomachache or suffer from indigestion, gas or cramping. This Health Beat article shares tips on how to maintain your emotional wellbeing to be able to eat and rest and manage multiple responsibilities:

• Rest to digest: Tips for calming cortisol