One English hospital trust has already reintroduced measures across its two hospitals
The Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)
Nottinghamshire’s main hospital trusts say they currently have no plans to bring back mandatory face masks, even though Covid-19 numbers are rising nationally.
Recent figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows Covid-19 numbers creeping up.
Weekly cases rose from 2,012 to 2,459 in the week before September 24 – a 22 per cent increase – and the latest figures for the week before October 1 stand at 3,049 cases, which is a 19 per cent rise.
Covid hospitalisations are also up, with 2,077 patients in hospital in the seven days before September 30 – a 9.7 per cent increase on the week prior.
More notably, hospital admission rate for the virus was up 60 per cent in the week starting September 15 at 2.73 per 100,000 people compared to 1.71 per 100,000 in the week starting August 18.
Two new COVID variants, Nimbus and Stratus, are now responsible for 90 per cent of recent recorded cases in England.
Responding to the rise in Covid-19 cases this week, one hospital trust reintroduced mandatory mask wearing in two of its hospitals.
On Wednesday (October 8), Shropshire’s Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust brought the measure back in at sections of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital to help slow transmission.
Nottingham University Hospitals Trust ( NUH ) and Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust (SFHT), the county’s two main health trusts, have both told the local democracy reporting service they are not currently reintroducing mandatory face masks across their sites.
Tracy Pilcher, Chief Nurse at NUH, said staff are already wearing masks in some areas with the “most vulnerable patients” but the trust is not implementing the rule for staff and patients in its general admission areas.
She said: “We observe the local epidemiology closely and this informs our approach. Currently there is a rise in Covid-19 cases similar to this time last year. Levels of other respiratory viruses are currently low, but we do expect that these will increase in the coming weeks.
“We encourage people who are eligible for Flu, Covid-19 and RSV vaccinations to have them to protect them from illness. The Flu vaccine is being offered to staff working at NUH, in the first week of it being available, 2,500 members of staff have protected themselves against flu.
“We continue to ask visitors to not come to NUH if they have symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting or cold and flu like symptoms to help protect our vulnerable patients.”
SFHT confirmed to the local democracy reporting service its Covid-19 numbers “remain low” across its hospitals and it has “no plans” to enforce mask wearing at this immediate time.
Philip Bolton, Executive Chief Nurse at SFHT, said: “There is a well-established process with evidence-based triggers which indicate when mask wearing should be re-introduced. This process is rigorously reviewed but has not yet indicated the need for a return to mask wearing.
“If you have a respiratory infection , such as cold, flu or COVID-19, it is important to avoid attending or visiting hospitals unless you need urgent medical care. This helps to avoid spreading infection to vulnerable individuals and other visitors.”