Mask mandates return at some US hospitals as COVID, flu jump

FILE PHOTO: Dr. Syed Naqvi, a pulmonologist, dons an N95 mask before entering the ICU at SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo

(Reuters) - Hospitals in at least four U.S. states have reinstated mask mandates amid a rise in cases of COVID, seasonal flu and other respiratory illness.

Healthcare facilities in New York, California, Illinois and Massachusetts have made masks mandatory among patients and providers.