UHNM: Hospital visiting to be suspended from Boxing Day

From Boxing Day, visiting will only be allowed in exceptional cases, including patients receiving end-of-life care

Visiting will be temporarily suspended at two hospitals in Staffordshire due to rising levels of Covid-19.

Only exceptional visiting cases will be allowed from Sunday 26 December at Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital, Stafford.

Both Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford have seen rising Covid cases amid the Omicron variant's rapid spread.

The NHS trust running the hospitals urged people to consider other ways of keeping in touch such as phone calls.

The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) said exceptional cases included visits to patients receiving end-of-life care, and the presence of birth partners during labour.

Stoke-on-Trent has seen 1,643 Covid cases in the week up to 19 December, a rise of 325 on the previous seven days, according to government figures.

Stafford has seen an increase of 148 cases to a total of 924 for the same period.

• Omicron wave appears milder, but concern remains

• Omicron: Good news, bad news and what it all means

• How many people can get together at Christmas?

While analysis suggests people catching Omicron are 50% to 70% less likely to need hospital care, the UK Health Security Agency has warned the variant could lead to large numbers of people in hospital.

Earlier this month, the chief executive of UHNM, Tracy Bullock, said she expected to have to cancel elective work if Covid cases kept rising.