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Covid-19: Southern Trust suspends hospital visits as cases spike

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The Southern Trust has announced that visiting at its hospitals will be suspended until further notice.

It said this would apply to all visits, except those visiting end of life patients, from 21:00 BST on Friday.

The decision was taken "due to increasing cases of Covid-19 within our communities", the trust added.

Friends and family can still arrange "virtual visits" by calling its co-ordinator between 09:00 and 17:00 BST.

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The trust thanked people for their "continued support" at this time.

Northern Ireland recorded a further 1,380 positive coronavirus tests on Friday, which compared with 1,083 cases in the previous 24-hour reporting period.

A total of 136,607 people have had a confirmed diagnosis of the virus since the pandemic began.

Last week, visits at two hospitals in Londonderry were paused after a spike in cases but have since resumed.

The Western Trust has "cautiously eased" a return to visiting at Altnagelvin and Waterside Hospitals.

It said the situation will be reviewed again on 23 July.

The trust explained that more frequent visiting would be permitted in cases of end of life care, as well as visiting for birthing partners to maternity wards.

Care home visiting

Meanwhile, a review of care home visiting has not recommended a further easing of restrictions.

Since 7 May, two visits are allowed per week, with children allowed to visit.

The review has assessed if this should increase to three.

Visits are currently limited to two people at one time and can last up to one hour.

Residents in care homes have also been allowed to resume trips outside.

A further review of the measures is scheduled to be completed on or just after 16 August, the department of health said.

Its strategy included a commitment to scheduled reviews "to decide on progress along the pathway back to more normalised visiting".

The department added: "Outstanding progress has been made to date, but we need to remain vigilant and maintain the cautious approach that has brought us so far."