Coronavirus: Sussex NHS bring back compulsory face masks

NHS Sussex says the measures across GP practices and hospitals are to "protect everybody from rising rates of Covid-19"

The NHS in Sussex has reintroduced mandatory mask-wearing in response to rising Covid-19 rates.

Patients and staff across multiple trusts in the county must now wear masks in hospitals and GP practices.

NHS bosses said the decision was "in order to protect everybody from rising rates of Covid-19 infection".

The latest figures show an estimated 2.7 million people, or one in 25, has the virus. About one in 30 had the virus in the previous week.

Sussex trusts involved in reintroducing masks are:

• East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

• University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust

• Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

• South East Coast Ambulance Service

• NHS Foundation Trust

• Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

• Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Other trusts elsewhere in the UK have already reintroduced masks for staff, patients, and visitors including trusts in Bristol and Cornwall.

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