NHS hospitals are telling patients, visitors and staff to wear face masks due to rising levels of winter bugs and low vaccine take-up, despite the lack of good evidence that they work. The Telegraph has more.
An early flu season has piled pressure on the health service, with the number of patients in hospital with influenza more than tripling in two weeks.
The rate of hospitalisations from flu increased from 1.8 per 100,000 toward the end of November to 5.53 in the week ending December 8th, data from the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show.
Combined with high rates of Covid, vomiting-bug norovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children, some NHS hospitals have ushered in a return to face masks.
Hospitals across Lincolnshire introduced mandatory face masks for patients and visitors across some areas on Friday.
The United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “The additional infection prevention and control measure is being re-introduced in some high-risk areas due to an increase in respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19, Influenza A and RSV in the county’s hospitals and community settings.”
The trust said all visitors would be asked to wear “a hospital-provided type II R surgical face mask when visiting our wards and departments” including in A&Es, urgent treatment centres and in cancer and paediatric units.
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust warned that its A&E was “extremely busy” and urged parents to “only attend if your child is seriously unwell”.
“We are seeing a high number of patients with flu currently,” it added. “If you do need to attend our emergency department with your child, please do wear a face mask to protect yourself, other families and our teams caring for patients.”
South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust has said it was “encouraging visitors to wear masks when entering, especially patients entering the emergency department”.
It said it was to provide protection “from increasing numbers of COVID-19, flu, RSV, and norovirus cases in our hospital” and reminded the public to wash their hands regularly with soap, warning that “alcohol hand gels do not kill norovirus”.
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust also warned that visitors “may be asked to wear a mask if you are able to”.
In the Humber and Yorkshire, staff are being told to wear face masks.
The Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has asked staff to wear the coverings in all patient-facing areas in response to a “low uptake of the flu vaccine” in the local area.
Amanda Stanford, group Chief Nurse, said it was because of rising cases of the virus over the last fortnight and that “all measures will be kept under constant review by our senior nursing and infection control teams”.
Humber Health Partnership told staff: “It is now mandatory for all staff, clinical and non-clinical, in all patient-facing areas to wear face masks because of the increase in cases of flu.”
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