Visiting suspended at Essex hospitals due to rising Covid cases
Three hospitals are changing their visiting policy from today.
Hospitals in Colchester, Clacton and Harwich will not be welcoming visitors again from today due to concern over the rising number of Covid cases in the area.
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Trust has confirmed they've decided to suspend visiting again temporarily to try and slow the spread of the virus.
The Trust, which also looks after Ipswich Hospital, made a similar decision in Suffolk earlier this week.
Giles Thorpe is the Chief Nurse at the Trust: “This week we have already taken the difficult decision to suspend visiting in our hospitals in east Suffolk. We have been keeping a close eye on community COVID-19 infection rates and the number of people in our hospitals with the virus and we now need to take the same action in north east Essex.
“From Friday 29 October, we will be suspending visiting at Colchester Hospital, Clacton Hospital and Fryatt Hospital, Harwich.
“This has not been an easy decision to make. We understand how important visiting is to our patients and their families and friends, but we must do everything we can to keep everyone safe in our hospitals.
“We will review the situation in two weeks, in line with hospital admissions and overall community COVID-19 infections and decide whether to continue with the suspension or return to a restricted visiting policy.
“We’d like to thank everyone in our communities for their support and understanding as we continue to respond to the challenges of the pandemic.”
A review of the suspension will take place in a fortnight.