Mayo Clinic: all employees should wear face masks
Mayo Clinic has begun asking all on-site staff — including those not involved in direct patient care — to begin wearing face masks.
The change in policy follows a recent CDC recommendation encouraging all Americans to wear cloth face coverings in public settings where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
In a news release Tuesday, Mayo said staff are currently being educated on which masks are appropriate based on their role at the Clinic.
Mayo is also asking patients and visitors to wear homemade or cloth marks, or others that they have personally obtained while on Mayo property.
Mayo now accepting mask donations
As the COVID-19 pandemic surges on, Mayo’s Rochester campus has also started accepting donations of homemade sewn cloth masks.
All masks must be made following CDC guidelines.
According to a Facebook post Tuesday, donations will be accepted weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the following locations:
Gonda East entrance (drive-up)
Mayo Family Clinic Southeast (drive-up)
Francis Staff Cafeteria (for employees)
Donated cloth masks will be used by staff who do not work in patient care areas, as well as by patients and visitors. Additional details about how to donate masks at other sites will be made available later in the week.
Locally, Olmsted Medical Center is also accepting donations for cloth face masks. Instructions on how to make a mask can be found here.
Related: Rochester volunteers band together to confront shortage of face masks
