Yahoo News COVID expert says return of face masks in hospital will likely 'have little benefit'
An NHS trust's decision to ask patients and visitors to wear face masks again may not make too much difference, a microbiologist has said.
A microbiologist has told Yahoo News that a hospital's decision to bring back face masks "will probably have little benefit for most people"
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust brought in the change on Friday in response to what it said were rising flu and COVID-19 cases
Healthcare charities have called on NHS England to reintroduce protective measures to keep staff and vulnerable patients safe from COVID-19 this winter
A microbiologist has called into question an NHS trust's decision to ask visitors and patients to wear face masks again in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Last week, the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it was bringing the requirement back as the "number of cases of COVID-19 has risen significantly", both "locally and nationally".
However, Professor Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine at The Norwich School of Medicine, University of East Anglia, told Yahoo News he was doubtful that this measure would make much of a difference for many people.
He suggested the value of masks preventing the spread of COVID appears to have dropped since the emergence of the Omicron strain, adding that "infections in the community seem to be falling quite quickly".
However, the trust aren't the only ones with concerns, with a number of healthcare charities urging NHS England to reintroduce precautions for staff to prevent vulnerable staff being put at risk as winter approaches.
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The Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had warned the "number of cases of COVID-19 has risen significantly over the last few weeks both nationally and locally".
In a statement on its website, it added: "We are taking some precautionary measures to limit the spread of both COVID and other respiratory viruses.
"Along with our staff, visitors, outpatients and anyone accompanying them are asked to wear masks in all clinical areas and anywhere they will be in close contact with others for longer periods of time."
It said that visitors who do not have a mask would be provided one by staff, and asked those with viral symptoms such as a cough, cold or fever to keep their distance from others.
Taking a look at the government's interactive map of COVID infections, many areas in the centre of the city are marked as having fewer than three cases.
However, others have seen a notable rise. Burngreave and Grimesthorpe had a total of nine cases in the seven days to 14 October - an increase of 350% - although the district's infection rate is still only 60.4 per 100,000 people.
You can use the map to check COVID rates in your area, although results should be taken with a pinch of salt as the UK government ended free mass testing last year.
Professor Hunter questioned Sheffield Teaching Hospitals' claim that COVID cases were on the rise.
He pointed to the Department for Health figures for COVID-19 infections across England, which show cases as peaking at the end of September and dropping by 25% in the week to 14 October.
Using the same interactive chart for cases in Sheffield, cases appear to have peaked around 5 October and have since been falling. Yahoo News has contacted Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for comment.
Effectiveness of masks 'has reduced since Omicron'
Professor Hunter also suggested that the "value of masks in preventing the spread of COVID does seem to have been much reduced since the emergence of Omicron".
He pointed to a report, presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen in April, which found the removal of face mask policies made little difference to transmission in hospitals.
During the first phase of the study, all staff and visitors were required to wear masks in both clinical and non-clinical areas of the hospital.
In phase two, the mask policy was removed for the majority of wards. A subset of high-risk wards kept the obligatory mask policy, acting as a control group, and saw "no immediate or delayed change in infection rate".
Masks 'will probably have little benefit', but concerns remain for clinically vulnerable
Professor Hunter concluded that "mask wearing in hospital especially at a time when infections in the community seem to be falling quite quickly will probably have little benefit for most people".
"The exception is likely to be people who are at significant risk of severe disease such that they would be offered antivirals if they contract COVID," he added.
Nonetheless, people are still worried, with a number of healthcare charities and organisations including Blood Cancer UK, Kidney Care UK and Forgotten Lives UK calling on the NHS to grant patients the right to request a staff member to wear a mask.
They also called on the health service to reintroduce testing for all staff who have shown symptoms of COVID and work with vulnerable patients, the Guardian reported, warning many people were being put at unnecessary risk.
While data shows that infections peaked in September, cases of COVID and other respiratory illnesses such as flu are still expected to rise over the winter, with the UK Health Security Agency urging those who are eligible to take the flu and COVID vaccines.
The NHS said: "While decisions on wider mask-wearing are made locally, based on risk assessments, guidance clearly recommends staff should continue to wear face masks when treating patients with COVID-19, and that universal mask-wearing should also be considered in settings where patients are at high risk of infection due to immunosuppression."
