Mask wearing to remain compulsory at hospitals in Hull, Grimsby & Scunthorpe
Face coverings become optional in many places from Monday
Coronavirus safety measures are to stay in place at hospitals across East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire from Monday, meaning people will still be expected to wear face coverings.
From the 19th July in England, wearing facemasks will no longer be compulsory.
It means you'll no longer be legally required to wear one when you're out and about.
However two of our local Hospital Trusts; Northern Lincolnshire and Goole (NLAG) and Hull University Teaching Hospitals (HUTH) are to keep current restrictions going.
Patients and visitors will be expected to wear a face covering and practice social distancing.
People will only be allowed to visit to go to A&E or an appointment and if they agree to keep to visiting restrictions.
It will affect people visiting Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Goole hospitals, as well as hospitals in Hull.
Ellie Monkhouse, Chief Nurse at NLAG, said:
“Our priority remains the safety of our patients and staff. Despite lockdown restrictions being lifted, everyone visiting our hospitals must continue with these safety measures until further notice.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase in the number of positive patients needing our care and our staff continue to work hard under immense pressure.
"With restrictions easing on Monday, it is important for the public to continue to play their part when visiting healthcare settings.
“It is vital we do all we can to reduce the risk of infection for those working in our services and patients needing our care. Therefore, our staff will also continue with the strict infection prevention and control measures currently in place."
HUTH Chief Executive Chris Long said:
“We thank the public who have followed our restrictions since the start of the pandemic and we thank them again for their cooperation now.
“Our priority remains the safety of our staff and patients and the need to stop the spread of Covid-19 throughout our hospitals.
“The virus is still circulating in our community and we are once again seeing a rise in hospital admissions, reflecting increasing infection rates in Hull and surrounding towns and villages.
“Restrictions will remain in force for now although we’ll be keeping them under constant review to make changes as soon as it’s safe to do so.”