THE number of Covid patients at York and Scarborough hospitals has risen to more than 100 as the latest wave of the pandemic sweeps the community.

The York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said today that it now had 105 confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients at its two sites, with two of them in intensive care.

The number is up from 77 cases nine days ago, but is still significantly lower than the record of almost 300 Covid patients in the late winter at the height of the Omicron wave.

The York trust only relaxed its visiting regulations earlier this month, saying visitors and people accompanying them to outpatient appointments or the emergency department no longer routinely required to wear a facemask.

But hospitals in some other parts of the country are bringing back requirements for masks on wards, just weeks after their rules were relaxed,as Covid rates spike.

For example, face masks have been reintroduced at some Nottinghamshire hospitals just two weeks after they were dropped as part of a phased return to pre-pandemic policies. A rise in Covid cases among staff and patients has led to the decision being reversed.