Hospitals in Linn County have started limiting the number of patient visitors in an attempt to prevent the spread of both the flu and the coronavirus.

At Mercy Medical Center and UnityPoint-St. Luke’s Hospital, visitors are limited to two adults per patient. There are some exceptions, according to hospital officials, such as for extremely ill patients.

Children are still allowed to visit, but doctors recommend they stay at home.

Dr. Dustin Arnold, chief medical officer at St. Luke’s Hospital, said the hospital is ready for whenever the coronavirus hits the area.

“We have the proper equipment, proper rooms, a place to isolate them and minimize transmission in the hospital,” Arnold said.

St. Luke’s is also enforcing what they call the RICE protocol, which stands for Recognize, Isolate, Confirm, and Evaluate. Arnold said this is an organized way of determining which patients are sick with either the flu or coronavirus and then deciding what to do with them.

“At that time we would confirm that they have it, they would already be isolated, and then we would treat them like we would treat any other patient,” Arnold said.