Now that it has been permitted once again to visit patients in hospitals, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen has declared that in order to protect against infection, mouth and nose coverings must be worn in the University Hospital Main Building, any outbuildings used for patient care, and Franziskus Hospital. Both patients and visitors are asked to bring their own mouth and nose coverings. Patients are only obligated to wear mouth and nose coverings outside their patient room.
All staff in patient care must wear a medical face mask when on duty. It is not permitted to wear a self-sewn or simple fabric face covering in patient care. The filter performance of these coverings is lower than that of certified industrially manufactured face coverings. High filter performance is primarily important for self-protection. Protection of others is also achieved by wearing a non-medical face mask, so that wearing such a covering in public settings makes sense.
In accordance with the decrees of the federal state of NRW, children from the age of six should also wear a face covering when leaving the patient room. Younger children typically do not tolerate wearing a face mask, and there is a lack of face coverings suitable for children. In this context, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen emphasizes that medical face masks provide sufficient self-protection and therefore, younger children can also be treated safely if the examiner/carer protects himself or herself with a medical face mask.