A HOSPITAL trust has banned visitors amid concerns about soaring Covid-19 cases in the community and staff absences.

Last Thursday, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust revealed two people would be able to visit a patient at their bedsite in its hospitals in Colchester, Clacton, Harwich and Ipswich.

But in a dramatic U-turn, most ward visiting is now suspended in the trust’s hospitals from today following a rapid rise in the number of Covid infections in the community.

Over the weekend, 803 people tested positive for the virus across Colchester borough, official figures show.

An ESNEFT spokeswoman said the decision was made “due to the increasing number of patients with Covid in the trust’s hospitals, following a rapid rise in the number of infections in the community.

Read more: Hospital trust makes announcement amid change in visitor rules

“COVID-19 is also impacting staffing at the trust,” she added.

Some exceptions will apply, and more open visiting will remain in place for those in end-of-life care, those in formal caring roles, parents or carers of children and in maternity.

The trust stated the situation will be kept under close and regular review by its infection prevention and control team, in line with hospital admissions and community infection rates.

ESNEFT chief executive, Nick Hulme said: “Making this decision so soon after we opened visiting further is disappointing for us all, but it goes to show how fast the virus is spreading again and that Covid-19 has not gone away.

“It’s still very real for everyone working in our hospitals.

“Any decision to suspend visiting in our hospitals is carefully considered. It does not get any easier and it’s never a decision we take lightly as we understand the impact it has had on patients and their families throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We know the support of friends and family is key to helping a patient on the road to recovery, but our priority is to keep everyone safe in our hospitals.

“We will be keeping a very close eye on the situation, and we will share any news on changes to our visiting policy as quickly as we can.”