Royal Cornwall Hospital has suspended all visiting following a “significant increase” in patients with COVID.

A statement from the trust said: “Although the vast majority of the 85 people have been admitted for another reason, it means we have many wards or bays unable to take new admissions.

“As a result, we have had to take the difficult decision to suspend all visiting with immediate effect. This includes visits planned for later today and through the coming weekend.

Read more: Pandemic ‘not over’, expert warns amid increasing hospital admissions among older people

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“Exceptional circumstances, including end of life care, will be considered compassionately on an individual basis.

“The current visiting arrangements for maternity, neonatal and paediatrics remain unchanged.

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“We will be making every effort to resume visiting as soon as we can but we must reduce the number of people coming into our hospitals to a minimum, and it is likely we will have to keep this restriction in place for at least the next seven days.

“Wards will contact those who have already booked visits to discuss this with them.”

Earlier this week, Cornwall Live reported the county had seen a rise in new COVID cases over the latest seven-day period.

However, figures did show the overall case rate had dropped since the start of the new year.

The rise in cases prompted calls from Cornwall’s public health teams for people to continue regularly testing and taking the necessary precautions to keep the virus “at bay”.

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