Do you think face masks should be reintroduced? (Image: Getty)
With cases surging and yet to peak some are asking whether face masks should be made mandatory again to help reduce its spread.
The wearing of face coverings was a legal requirement at the height of the pandemic. Donning a face mask now is a personal choice, though some settings might still insist on them.
While some people don’t like using them, they have proven to be effective in slowing the transmission of respiratory illnesses.
Express.co.uk would like to know if you think face masks should be required again.
What do you think, vote below and join the debate in the comments. Can’t see the poll? Click
Questions about the role of face coverings come as the number of people in hospital with flu is almost five times the level it was at the start of December.
figures show an average of 5,408 flu patients were in beds in England every day last week, including 256 in critical care.
Flu cases are soaring across the country (Image: Getty)
This is up 21% from 4,469 the previous week, when 211 were in critical care and nearly five times the number on December 1, when the total was 1,098.
The figures have been published in the latest weekly snapshot of the performance of hospitals in England this winter amid warnings the peak of the flu season is yet to come.
Several NHS trusts have already declared critical incidents because of sustained pressure on A&E departments as people are treated in corridors. One patient at a hospital was forced to wait 50 hours to be admitted to a ward.
Professor Julian Redhead, NHS national clinical director for urgent and emergency care, warned on Wednesday: “Wards are now full to bursting and that pressure is feeding back into A&E departments, with patients being treated in environments not usually used for clinical care.
“Most patients would recognise when they’re being treated in a corridor, but those aren’t the environments we would want to treat patients in. That is difficult for colleagues and patients who are treated in that environment.”
Don’t miss… [REPORT]
‘Wards are now full to bursting and that pressure is feeding back into A&E departments’ (Image: Getty)
He said a peak should be expected in the coming weeks, adding: “It’s too early to say it’s definitively peaked. I would hope there would be a peak in the next one to two weeks. But we’ve also got that cold snap at the moment, which will also put pressure on emergency services.”
Saffron Cordery, Interim Chief Executive of NHS Providers, told the on Wednesday the NHS is under pressure and flu is 246% higher than last year.
She said staff across the NHS “are putting in absolutely valiant effort in order to keep patients safe”.
Non-urgent patients have been warned they will face long waits in A&E and have been urged to “consider other options” such as contacting their GP, visiting a pharmacy or calling NHS 111.
Ms Cordery urged patients who are suffering a life-threatening emergency still to call 999. She said: “We don’t want that situation where people are choosing not to call 999 when they really need it.”
Prof Redhead said: “A&Es are open for patients who need us. Though there may be waits, the vital treatment is generally being given in a timely manner.”
He also urged communities to “come together” during the cold snap to ensure the most vulnerable are looked after.