Nottinghamshire: Face masks reintroduced at three hospitals

Staff, patients and visitors at King’s Mill Hospital, Newark Hospital and Mansfield Community Hospital now have to wear masks in all clinical areas.

Hospital bosses said it was “vital” the most vulnerable patients were protected.

A critical incident covering the NHS in Nottinghamshire remains in place.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs all three sites, said there had been a rise in Covid-19 and flu patients.

A trust spokesperson urged people not to visit if they have any signs of illness, particularly if they have any cold, flu-like symptoms, diarrhoea or vomiting.

The move comes as a critical incident covering the whole of the county’s NHS continues, despite a junior doctors strike ending.

NHS bosses declared the incident on 3 January, saying hospitals in the city and county were under “extreme pressure”.

The trust said it would continue to keep its face mask requirements under constant review.

“Rates of infection are kept under constant review and studies indicate that re-introducing the wearing of masks is one of the ways to prevent the spread of infection”, the spokesperson said.