Hospital trusts bring face masks back after Covid cases rise

There are 111 Covid-19 patients at the Royal Derby Hospital - one in intensive care

Face masks have been reintroduced at some hospitals in Derbyshire after a spike in Covid patients.

Mandatory face masks were dropped in non-clinical areas at the Royal Derby and Chesterfield hospitals last month.

However, they have now been brought back by the two trusts that run the hospitals.

There are 111 Covid-19 patients at the Royal Derby Hospital - one in intensive care - and 44 patients with Covid at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

The University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust said the majority of patients in its hospitals with Covid-19 were admitted due to other conditions, not due to the virus itself.

The trust said it also had 50 patients with the virus at its Queen's Hospital site in Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire.

'Disappointing development'

Dr Magnus Harrison, interim chief executive at the trust, said: "We appreciate this may be disappointing to some, but we will continue to keep our infection control measures under constant review with safety as our main priority.

"While our current level of patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 is not as high as we have seen in previous waves, this still adds significant pressure to our services."

Visiting restrictions at the trusts have not been changed

Dr Hal Spencer, chief executive at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital trust, said: "This is a disappointing development but it is important that we continue to keep the health and wellbeing of everybody as our top priority.

"We are incredibly grateful for the continued support of our local community and ask that anyone coming on to site wears a mask. We will of course keep the situation under review and update across our channels as things develop."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reports that the current 205 Covid patients across Derby, Chesterfield and Burton is substantially higher than in January, when the hospitals were treating nearly 100 patients combined.

Visiting restrictions at the trusts have not been changed.