Face masks remain at Royal Stoke as 114 patients have Covid

More than 100 patients at Staffordshire's main hospital have Covid-19 - with mandatory mask-wearing continuing for another week. University Hospitals of North Midlands reintroduced the wearing of surgical masks in all clinical areas on July 1, following an increase in the number of patients being diagnosed with the disease during June.

The number of patients at UHNM with Covid now stands at 114 - down from a peak of 119 but still above the trigger level for mask-wearing. The UK is currently seeing a summer wave of Covid, with the UK Health Security Agency reporting an increase in hospitalisations in June.

A number of new Covid variants are circulating, but there is no evidence to suggest that these are any more dangerous than previous forms of the virus. Chief nurse Ann-Marie Riley told a UHNM board meeting that the situation was being monitored on a weekly basis, but gave assurances that the current Covid wave had only had a 'minimal' impact on bed capacity.

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Ms Riley said: "We still have an increased number of patients who are getting a diagnosis of Covid. It's been described as a summer wave, and we know there are two new variants nationally. We haven't had confirmation from any of our tests on whether any of our patients have got those variants or not. But the numbers are still higher than our trigger.

"We assess the number every week. We have clinical meetings that look at a range of indicators, one of them being Covid, and if we meet our trigger that's when we make the decision over whether we wear masks or put additional measures in place. We'll review it again next Tuesday.

"We haven't got many beds closed due to Covid. Medicine have done a fantastic job of managing the Covid patients. But what it does means is that if you're waiting to be transferred somewhere else it may delay your transfer. So it might affect overall flow but in terms of beds that we've got empty, that's minimal."

Patients and visitors at both the Royal Stoke University Hospital and the County Hospital, in Stafford, are required to wear masks in any clinical areas. Masks and hand gel are available at the entrances to wards and clinical areas at both sites. UHNM is also advising anyone with symptoms of Covid, flu, sickness or diarrhoea to stay away from hospitals.

The UKHSA's latest Covid surveillance report says that in the week ending June 30, Covid hospital admissions remained stable at 4.14 per 100,000 people, compared with 4.17 in the previous week. Hospitalisations are highest in those aged 85 and over. Covid ICU admissions remain very low, but increased slightly to 0.16 per 100,000 people.