Visiting at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill is being restricted to exceptional cases only from this week to reflect global concerns over the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is stopping all visiting to patients except specific cases approved in advance by senior ward staff as national and international concerns mount over the increased transmissibility of Omicron.

Visiting will only be allowed for exceptional cases which must be agreed in advance with senior nursing staff such as patients at the end of their lives and patients with dementia and learning difficulties.

Birthing partners will be able to attend when a woman is in labour, to visit antenatal and postnatal wards and to attend antenatal appointments such as scans. One parent will be able to visit children in our paediatric wards and both parents as co-care givers on the neonatal intensive care unit.

All other visiting will be halted from tomorrow (Wednesday). All visitors who are given permission to attend must take a lateral flow test (LFT) before attending and confirm they have done so when attending the ward. A LFT should be taken before every such visit.

Chief Nurse Beverley Geary said: “Our duty must be to the patients in our care and we must do everything we can to protect them from the threat of Covid-19.

“We know the vast majority of the public understand that our patients are already vulnerable and catching the virus could have very serious – and indeed deadly – consequences for them.

“We are not introducing this step lightly. We know it distresses relatives and the patients themselves when they can’t have visitors.

“But we must do everything we can to stop the spread of Covid-19 and to address the risk of this specific variant until the world understands more about the danger it poses.

“We thank the public in advance for their understanding and reassure them that restrictions on visiting will be eased as soon as we are sure our patients will be safe.”

In response to the Government’s tightening of restrictions, face masks must be worn by all staff, visitors and patients on hospital grounds as well as when they enter any hospital building.

All members of the public should stay away from hospital if they are showing any symptoms of Covid-19.