Jersey's hospital bosses make mask-wearing mandatory for all clinical staff

Jersey's hospital has made it mandatory for all clinical staff to wear masks, with all patients and visitors advised to do the same.

It comes as multiple hospital trusts across England have declared critical incidents due to exceptionally high service demand.

Dr Ivan Muscat, a consultant microbiologist and adviser with Jersey's Public Health, says: "We've been entering winter pressures gently since the beginning of December and activity has ramped up significantly since Christmas.

"Of course in a hospital environment, you would be transmitting to potentially vulnerable people so it is an important move that we all have to observe."

All islanders are urged to embrace the same measures used during the COVID pandemic to help stop the spread of flu.

Those include getting a preventative vaccination, washing your hands and wearing masks in busy areas.

In addition to dealing with the current seasonal pressures, the hospital's Bartlett ward has been opened, adding 18 additional beds.

To keep beds free for urgent cases, islanders are being asked to only visit the emergency department for true emergencies.

Further afield a surge in cases of the flu-like virus - HMPV - has caused fears of another pandemic.

However, Dr Muscat, who was Jersey's medical advisor during the pandemic, insisted this particular virus has been around for decades.

He reassures residents: "There is no evidence that the virus in China is a new virus or something novel or capable of causing a pandemic.

"The definition of a pandemic is something that is novel that people don't have immunity to."

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