Bethany Bump is reporting for the Times Union Columbia Memorial Health was one of a number of Capital Region hospitals to announce Wed., Mar. 11, they are tightening visitor restrictions in an effort to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus. Visitors will begin this week to be interviewed at hospital entrances to determine if they have a fever and/or respiratory symptoms, have had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, or have traveled in the past 14 days to geographically affected areas including China, Iran, Italy, Japan or South Korea. Anyone who answers yes to any of the questions will be barred from entering the facility. The rules apply to visitors, only, not to those seeking medical care. The statement was released by Albany Medical Center on behalf of Columbia Memorial, Saratoga Hospital, Ellis Medicine in Schenectady, St. Peter’s Health Partners in Albany and Troy, Nathan Littauer Hospital in Gloversville, Glens Falls Hospital and St. Mary’s Healthcare in Amsterdam. Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman nursing homes in Ulster and Dutchess counties have now banned visitors in an effort to keep their residents healthy. Golden Hill Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Kingston, Woodland Pond, in New Paltz, and the Baptist Home at Brookmeade, in Rhinebeck, are now prohibiting guests from entering the facilities. There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 in any nursing homes in Ulster or Dutchess counties, but health officials advise that the elderly are particularly vulnerable to the virus.