Health
Call for Masks to Return at some UK Medical Facilities
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#UnitedKingdom, October 23, 2023 – A COVID-19 scare is sending one UK group of hospitals scrambling for their mask mandates once more as flu season approaches.
The Sheffield Hospital Trust which runs over five medical centers including two major hospitals in the UK has issued an alert for all visitors to its premises. They will now be required to wear masks which can be provided free of cost.
Rising COVID and flu cases were blamed for the resurgence of the pandemic era rule. In an October 19 press release the trust said
“The number of cases of Covid-19 has risen significantly over the last few weeks both locally and nationally and so we
They’re also endorsing social distancing, sanitizing and vaccination.
Cases of COVID-19 in the UK have been trending down in the past several days. The weekly report is just over 14,000 with nearly 4,000 people in hospital.
The Turks and Caicos Health ministry follows the advice of the UK Health agencies. No National advice has come from the agencies yet and recorded cases locally remain low.
Flu cases are expected to spike from December to March as they do yearly.
COVID-19 cases could be similar. Flu season also coincides with the major winter tourist travel season.
The Turks and Caicos, with the support of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has been upskilling its Health and Border Service agents to better deal with any outbreaks of disease that could affect the ports and is currently reinstituting the Regional Tourism and Health Programme in country.
The program, also supported by CARPHA, ensure stakeholders are trained in coping and reacting to alerts of infectious diseases via region wide guidelines to minimize risk.