Patients, visitors and staff in the region's hospitals and care settings will continue to be required to wear face masks beyond the lifting of Covid restrictions.

The measure has been announced by the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group to cover GP surgeries, care homes and other sites.

It comes just after the government announced the end of the last coronavirus restrictions, as part of its 'Living with Covid' strategy.

From Thursday, there will no longer be a legal mandate for Covid-positive people to self isolate and free, mass testing for the virus will begin a phased end. Mandatory mask-wearing in all indoor settings had already been removed.

However, the CCG wants masks to stay in use at healthcare sites, as well as requirements for social distancing and regular hand-washing.

%image(14357365, type="article-full", alt="Cath Byford, chief nurse at the Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group.")

Cath Byford, chief nurse at the CCG, said: "Over the course of the last two years, our health and care services have risen to the challenge of helping to protect people from the virus through the administration of the vaccination programme, while delivering vital health and care services safely.

"To continue to protect the health of our patients and staff, there will be no changes in health care settings from Thursday 24 February when the Living with Covid plans come into effect. All patients and visitors to our health and care settings will still need to still wear a face covering, socially distance, and use hand sanitiser.

“We have learned so much about the coronavirus and the transmissibility of infectious diseases during the pandemic. We remain committed to following the best practice infection prevention control practices that were introduced and have proved effective in helping to reduce transmission of diseases to continue to protect the health of both patients and staff.

"I understand that some people may find it frustrating. However, we must ensure that we continue to protect those who are most at-risk from the virus, and other infectious diseases such as flu, whilst they are in our care, and face covering in our health and care settings is a reasonable measure that we can take to do that.”

In other developments, supplies of lateral flow testing kits are already being rationed by the government, with the 24 hour period between being able to order home packs now extended to 72 hours - before the free supply ends on April 1.

%image(14369815, type="article-full", alt="Coronavirus cases in Norfolk are "stabilising", according to the county's director of public health, Dr Louise Smith. Picture: Ella Wilkinson")

The fight against the virus goes on

The region's health leaders have emphasised that the lifting of restrictions should not mean an end to preventative measures to curb the spread of the virus.

Dr Louise Smith, Norfolk's director of public health, said: "I think the first thing we have to see is preventative measures remain important - we would continue to urge people to get vaccinated if they haven't already, to carry on wearing face coverings indoors, ventilate rooms and regularly wash their hands.

"The outlying situation has not changed - we can still reduce the spread of Covid by doing all the things we have done previously.

"If you have symptoms, the best course of action you can take is to still try and avoid close contact with other people."

One aspect of the prime minister's announcement on Monday was removing additional local authority powers to tackle outbreaks - but Dr Smith said measures could still be taken on this front.

She said: "We are still waiting guidance on what we can do with businesses, but in public settings we may still be able to take measures if we pick up on high-risk outbreaks.

"If we thought we had an outbreak we would be able to work with that setting to address it.

"For example, if a care home has an outbreak identified, they could be prevented from taking on new residents until it is under control.

"Or likewise if a hospital ward has an outbreak, they may be closed to new patients until it is contained - but this is the same approach that is taken with winter sickness bugs."