by Rich Larson
Northfield Hospital + Clinics has made a series of announcements regarding both revised visiting rules, and how they are 
approaching Covid-19 vaccination booster shots.
In a statement, the organization said visitor restrictions have been tightened as cases of COVID-19 increase, driven mostly by the highly contagious delta variant.
All visitors must be masked and must keep a safe social distance. Visitors with any COVID-19 symptoms are not allowed. Hospital patients may have one adult visitor, and that must be the same visitor for the entire hospital stay. The visitor may come and go during visiting hours, which are 9am-7pm. No overnight stays will be allowed. Children in the hospital may have two parents or guardians as visitors and one may stay overnight. Patients with disabilities or dementia may have one designated support person who may stay overnight. All visitors will be screened, including temperature. Those who show symptoms of COVID will not be allowed to enter. All visitors must wear a face mask and keep a 6-foot distance from others. If visitors do not have a mask, one will be provided. Any visitor who refuses to wear a mask will not be allowed into the facility.
Additionally, NH+C is now providing a third dose of vaccine for individuals with specific medical conditions defined by the CDC and the FDA. Those conditions are organ transplant, bone marrow or stem cell transplant, moderate to severe immunodeficiency, those undergoing chemotherapy, and those undergoing advanced HIV active treatment with a high-dose immunosuppressant.
Current NH+C patients with these conditions can call 507-646-8019 to discuss scheduling a third dose. For the full set of visitor restrictions, visit northfieldhospital.org.
Healthy Kids Day returns to the Northfield Area YMCA
This Saturday, the Northfield Area YMCA is hosting Healthy Kids Day. This is an event that the YMCA has held for the last 15 years, even predating the YMCA building. Healthy kids Day has normally been held in April, however due to Covid-19 there was not an opportunity to have the event in 2020 or last spring. So, the YMCA board has decided to hold the event this weekend and use it as a sort of launching space into the coming school year.
YMCA Executive Director Krista Danner said Healthy Kids Day is a morning full of activities that celebrate kids being kids. There will be a 5k and a 2k run, along with interactive activities for youth, a bounce house, an obstacle course, giveaways, drawings, and other special promotions. Attendees will be able to register for the various YMCA programs on site. Danner said the Y will be relaunching more than a dozen programs that were not available during the pandemic, ranging from preschool activities to arts and crafts to youth sports, to the return of birthday parties at the Y. The YMCA will also conduct a membership drive by waiving the initial $25 sign-up fee.
Additionally, Danner said, there will be more than 20 of the YMCA’s community partners in attendance, including emergency services, which means they will be bringing some of their things along with them.
“Things like the safety vehicles. So that means the fire truck the ambulance, the K-9 Unit, water patrol which kids always love to be able to see. We also have a variety of different community partners ranging from the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to Gymnastics Club to health and dental organizations all in an effort to support our kids.”
Healthy Kids Day will be held outdoors at the Northfield Area YMCA, this Saturday August 28, from 9am until noon, rain or shine. The event is free but those interested in the 5k and 2k need to pre-register. The registration page and all the information about the event can be found at the YMCA website, northfieldymca.org.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
