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NHS staff and patients have been told to wear masks again in some hospitals to\u00a0reduce the spread of flu<\/a>, which has\u00a0hit hard and early<\/a>\u00a0this year.<\/p>\n From today, Frimley NHS Foundation Trust has announced that staff working in clinical wards \u2018will wear fluid-resistant surgical masks due to \u2018the current high number of flu cases in our hospitals and the local community\u2019.<\/p>\n They follow hospitals in\u00a0Surrey<\/a>, Sussex, and Swindon, in bringing back masks in A&E, and other clinical areas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Masks were standard procedure during the\u00a0Covid-19<\/a>\u00a0pandemic, where plastic barriers in shops and even facial visors were common sights.<\/p>\n But since \u2018social distancing\u2019 was officially\u00a0scrapped in 2022<\/a>, people gradually left behind these new habits, including mask wearing.<\/p>\n Rita Arora, a pharmacist with C.E. Harrod in\u00a0Fulham<\/a>,\u00a0London<\/a>, is now seeing a big rise in sales of over-the-counter flu medications, as well as face masks and hand sanitiser.<\/p>\n \u2018People are treating it like they were treating Covid,\u2019 she told\u00a0Metro<\/strong>. \u2018They\u2019re employing the same kind of mentality around don\u2019t want to get sick, don\u2019t want to spread anything.\u2019<\/p>\n Hospitals run by the Frimley trust include Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot,\u00a0Berkshire<\/a>, and Frimley Park Hospital near Camberley.<\/p>\n On December 5, University Hospitals Sussex also asked all staff and visitors to\u00a0wear\u00a0surgical face masks<\/a>\u00a0in A&E, emergency floors and admission departments, and any wards with confirmed flu cases.<\/p>\n Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, covering Swindon, also put a large banner on their website, saying \u2018We\u2019re asking patients and visitors to wear a mask\u2019.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This year\u2019s flu season is being driven by a new strain of H3N2\u00a0with seven mutations, giving it an increased ability to evade immunity.<\/p>\n There are currently three times more patients hospitalised with flu in London than there were this time last year.<\/p>\n London Ambulance Service also warned that the last weekend of November they saw call volumes they would expect on\u00a0New Year\u2019s Eve<\/a>, their busiest day of the year.<\/p>\n Yesterday, the NHS made an\u00a0\u2018urgent plea\u2019 for people to get vaccinated\u00a0<\/a>against flu, with this season starting off early and already causing pressure.<\/p>\n However, some have reported problems getting the flu jab due to an increase in demand, with Ms Arora\u2019s pharmacy seeing 30 to 40 walk-in patients per day this week compared to last week\u2019s 10 or 12.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As of 30 November 2025, latest operational figures showed that:<\/p>\n The World Health Organisation provides a target of 75% flu vaccination coverage for older adults and people with chronic conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Great Western Hospitals NHS Trust said: \u2018Latest data shows a significant rise in flu cases at Great Western Hospital, with flu hospitalisations increasing by 63% in the past week, and with more mixing and socialising expected in the run-up to\u00a0Christmas<\/a>, the numbers are likely to rise further.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018To help reduce the spread of infection and keep everyone safe, we are asking all staff, patients and visitors to wear a face mask or face covering in our admission areas, including our Emergency Department, Children\u2019s Emergency Unit, Medical Assessment Unit, Paediatric Assessment Unit, Surgical Assessment Unit, The Meadows, Neonatal Unit and Delivery Suite.<\/p>\n \u2018It is also highly recommended that staff, patients and visitors wear a face mask in other clinical areas in the hospital.<\/p>\n \u2018Face masks will be provided on arrival to the hospital, for those who are clinically able to wear one.\u00a0\u2018<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NHS staff and patients have been told to wear masks again in some hospitals to\u00a0reduce the spread of flu, which has\u00a0hit hard and early\u00a0this year. From today, Frimley NHS Foundation Trust has announced that staff working in clinical wards \u2018will wear fluid-resistant surgical masks due to \u2018the current high number of flu cases in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tMasks are so this season<\/h2>\n
How many have been vaccinated against flu?<\/h2>\n
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