Hospital boss in Cornwall urges caution amid Covid spike

Dr Allister Grant said the Royal Cornwall Hospital is under pressure from increasing covid cases

People should still be wearing masks in "close proximity" of others, a hospital medical director has said.

Dr Allister Grant from the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust said "the rate of coronavirus is rapidly increasing in the county".

A number of wards at its hospitals have been affected, with about 95 Covid-positive patients.

The current rate of infections for Cornwall is 889 per 100,000 people - up from 449 a week ago.

Dr Grant said: "Our hospital has been under significant pressure for several months now, but it has come to a head in the last few weeks as the amount of Covid in the county has rapidly increased since the half-term.

"It's meant that we have run into significant problems being able to manage our flow through the hospital."

Of the 95 patients with Covid at the Royal Cornwall and West Cornwall hospitals, only one is in intensive care.

Dr Grant said most patients have been admitted for other reasons, and "incidentally been found to have Covid".

He said: "It is still rife, it still can kill people. We have seen our deaths increase again due to Covid, so it hasn't gone away.

"I think caution is still warranted, we can't throw away the masks yet."

"Certainly when people are in close proximity I think they should be (wearing masks)."

Last week, visiting was stopped at RCHT due to the pressures on services.