By Hull hospitals restrict visits over Omicron fears
Visiting restrictions have been reintroduced at Hull Royal Infirmary Hospital and Castle Hill due to concerns over the Omicron variant.
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said from Wednesday visits will be limited to “exceptional cases only” and must be approved by a senior nurse in advance.
Visitors who are given permission to attend must take a lateral flow test and confirm they have done so when attending the ward. An LFT should be taken before every visit.
The Trust said it had taken the decision “to stop the spread of Covid-19 and to address the risk of this specific variant”.
Hospital bosses said birthing partners will still be allowed to attend when a woman is in labour, to visit antenatal and postnatal wards and to attend antenatal appointments such as scans.
One parent will still be able to visit children in paediatric wards while both parents will be allowed access to the neonatal intensive care unit.
Chief Nurse Beverley Geary said: “Our duty must be to the patients in our care and we must do everything we can to protect them from the threat of Covid-19.
“We know the vast majority of the public understand that our patients are already vulnerable and catching the virus could have very serious – and indeed deadly – consequences for them.
“We are not introducing this step lightly. We know it distresses relatives and the patients themselves when they can’t have visitors.
“But we must do everything we can to stop the spread of Covid-19 and to address the risk of this specific variant until the world understands more about the danger it poses.”
In response to the Government’s tightening of restrictions, face masks must be worn by all staff, visitors and patients on hospital grounds as well as when they enter any hospital building.
All members of the public should stay away from hospitals if they are showing any symptoms of Covid-19.
