Health board stops hospital visits amid soaring infection levels within the community and in hospitals

A Welsh health board has been forced to suspend visitor access across all their hospitals due to soaring infection levels.

High transmission rates within the community and in hospitals has forced the Hywel Dda University Health Board to temporarily suspend visiting access to patients.

Visitors will only be allowed to visit a loved one in extenuating circumstances with prior arrangement for end of life and critical care visits.

The health board said,“We appreciate that it is a difficult time for everyone, and we will continue to support the wellbeing of our patients/service users and their families and loved ones in the best way we can, while keeping everyone as safe as possible.

“The situation is being reviewed at regular intervals and a further update will be made to visitor restrictions as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Hospital admissions across England are now the highest since March as there are almost 9,000 patients hospitalised with Covid, and the numbers are increasing weekly.

The governments top scientific advisor has warned the high levels of Covid remains a concern and the scientific modelling remains “quite uncertain.”

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, who helped create the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, warned the NHS was “incredibly fragile.”

The government are increasing pressure to bring back some mandatory restrictions which would see some rules brought back in such as mandatory wearing of face mask and working from home to help ease the pressure this winter for the NHS.

The government insists that the increasing high infection rates is not putting pressure on the NHS, but hospitals are currently facing their highest levels in seven months.