Hospital face mask rules being ‘continually reviewed’ by health board

New rules reintroducing the compulsory wearing of face masks in Gwent’s hospitals is being “continually reviewed”.

Last week, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) reintroduced mask wearing and tightened visiting rules across its hospital sites following “a sharp rise in winter illnesses and infection rates”.

It comes after mask-wearing was reintroduced across Gwent’s hospitals for a period in October for similar reasons.

However, ABUHB said the situation “is not unique to Gwent” and pointed to “similar precautions” being introduced across other parts of Wales and the UK.

The area covered by ABUHB includes Caerphilly County Borough, as well as hospitals such as the Grange in Cwmbran, Newport’s Royal Gwent, and Nevil Hall in Abergavenny, among others.

Since Tuesday December 2, all staff, patients and visitors have been required to wear face masks when entering hospital sites, wards, emergency departments, minor injury units, and all clinical settings.

Masks have been made available at the entrances to wards and clinical areas.

In a statement announcing the measures last week, the health board said: “The decision comes as hospitals across the region experience increased cases of flu, Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses. These measures are essential to protect vulnerable patients and reduce the risk of transmission.”

ABUHB has also asked visitors to limit visits to see patients “wherever possible” and to avoid visiting if they are not feeling well.

A health board spokesperson told Caerphilly Observer: “We regularly review respiratory illness rates across our sites as part of our Winter Escalation Plan, therefore the mask-wearing and tightened visiting rules will be continually reviewed as part of this process.”