North Country Reporter

Androscoggin Valley Hospital issued the following announcement on January 12.

North Country Healthcare would like to alert everyone to a potential increase in cases and transmissibility of COVID-19, in coming days.

It is important for area residents to prepare for the possibility of illness in your families, and the need to isolate or quarantine for 5 – 10 days. At this time, it is worth ensuring that an adequate supply of essential items is available at home.

Please prepare for the possibility that many businesses and services may be disrupted as the result of a temporary absence of staff. Due to the fact that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been shown to be much more transmissible than previous strains of the virus, such absences could occur quickly, and with little warning.

Preventive measures, including the following, remain critical:

• Stay home if you have been diagnosed with, or suspect you may have, COVID-19

• Wear a facemask in public settings

• Wash your hands / sanitize when necessary

• Stay at least six feet away from others when in public

• Avoid large groups (especially indoors)

• Get vaccinated and/or boosted

If you take an at-home COVID-19 test and test positive, please call your health care provider to inform him/her of the results, and visit safercovid.org/mytest. No follow-up test, either at home or at a testing facility, is necessary.

North Country Healthcare facilities remain ready to serve you and help keep our communities healthy.

Original source can be found here.