Health Board: “Avoid visiting Wrexham Maelor Hospital Emergency Department unless it is necessary” with reminder to use masks on site

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board have issued a Wrexham specific statement this afternoon.

Gill Harris, Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said via a five tweet statement:

Over the past couple of weeks, there has been an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the Wrexham area.

We ask that people continue to avoid coming into our hospitals with any COVID-19 symptoms and avoid visiting the Wrexham Maelor Hospital Emergency Department unless it is necessary.

COVID-19 is highly infectious and it can be challenging to prevent the spread of the virus and although we have taken a range of actions, we appeal to the public for their support as we all have a role to play in preventing the spread of infection.

We ask that our communities continue to maintain good hand hygiene and observe social distancing guidance.

We are now actively encouraging patients, the public and staff to wear face coverings or masks in public areas of all Health Board sites. More information about this will follow in the coming days.

This morning we queried both the Health Board and Public Health Wales regarding the situation in the Maelor Hospital, as we first reported on Thursday the Health Board Chairman said ‘there has been an increase’ at the Maelor and various new policies were being brought in.

We have also enquired to both that the daily written statements from Public Health Wales mention areas of concern with much lower figures noted ( Ebbw Vale with 8 confirmed cases) however no mention of the Maelor site, and asked if it was being treated different to factory-based issues, and if so why due to public access and by definition could mean more vulnerable people on site.

Locally the Health Board have noted they have never published site-specific data on confirmed case figures (something we have been asking Welsh Government Ministers for at the daily briefings regularly), however we did point that in Norovirus outbreaks there have been specific figures attributed to specific sites.

At the time of writing the usual daily 2pm update from Public Health Wales contains no update to the data published at 2pm yesterday.

Public Health Wales data state +11 day on day for Wrexham, highest in Wales. That is +45 in last week period, +72 in last two week period, +107 in last three week period for context. There was an issue with the usual 2pm reporting, due to ‘technical difficulties with the data dashboard’.

The ongoing official advice to ‘Keep Wales Safe’, and to keep Wrexham safe, is

• always observe social distancing
• wash your hands regularly
• if you meet another household, outside your extended household, stay outdoors
• work from home if you can

And, stay at home if you or anyone in your extended household has symptoms.

Further information about the symptoms of Coronavirus is available on the Public Health Wales website, or members of the public can use the NHS Wales symptom checker.

Anyone experiencing Coronavirus symptoms can apply for a home testing kit by visiting www.gov.wales/coronavirus, or by calling the national 119 phone service.

Anyone with suspected coronavirus should not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.  They should only contact NHS 111 if they feel they cannot cope with their symptoms at home, their condition gets worse, or their symptoms do not get better after seven days.

Only call 999 if you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, do not call 999 just because you are on hold to 111.  111 lines can be busy, but Public Health Wales say you will get through after a wait.