Yet another health care giant will have a mask mandate as the local COVID wastewater continues to surge and infections rise across the region.

Mass General Brigham will be bringing back its staff mask mandate in the new year with local hospitals seeing higher respiratory infection levels amid the winter when cases typically go up.

When more than 2.85% of patients at emergency departments or outpatient clinics have respiratory illness symptoms, Mass General Brigham’s employee mask mandate is triggered.

“With the percentage of patients presenting at emergency rooms and outpatient facilities with respiratory illnesses exceeding 2.85 percent in the region, Mass General Brigham will begin requiring masking for healthcare staff interacting directly with patients on Jan. 2,” Mass General Brigham said in a statement.

“Patients and visitors will be strongly encouraged to wear a facility-issued mask,” Mass General Brigham added.

Health care personnel will need to use a facility-issued facemask in direct interactions with patients in clinical care locations — such as when entering a patient room or bay, or in other locations where care is delivered, such as examining a patient on a stretcher.

Patients and visitors will be strongly encouraged to wear a facility-issued facemask in those same situations when they are able to, Mass General Brigham said.

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Last year, local hospitals experienced respiratory infection levels as high as 7.3% during what many health officials called the “tripledemic” of COVID, flu, and RSV — straining resources and adding to already historic capacity challenges in health care facilities across the country.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has also reinstituted a mask mandate for everyone at the cancer center, including staff and patients. Those with cancer have a higher risk of suffering from severe COVID.

Respiratory illness levels are climbing, as the Boston-area COVID wastewater data keeps spiking. The COVID wastewater data is the first sign of virus cases in the community.

The south-of-Boston virus wastewater weekly average was up to 1,611 copies per milliliter ahead of Christmas, which is nearly double from early December. The 1,600-plus average is the highest the COVID wastewater data has been since January.

The north-of-Boston average was up to 1,150 copies per milliliter ahead of Christmas — also about double from earlier this month. The 1,100-plus average in the north is also the highest since January.

Meanwhile, the total number of reported COVID cases have been jumping in Massachusetts during recent weeks, and a new variant called JN.1 is quickly spreading.