Return of the Masks: Health Chiefs Say Face Coverings Should Be Brought Back and Anyone Feeling Ill Should ‘Stay at Home’

Unwell adults should stay at home and wear a mask if they have to go outside, health chiefs said today amid warnings the NHS is facing more pressure than it did during the peak of the pandemic. The Mail has more.

The advice, issued by the U.K. Health Security Agency, also urges parents to keep their child out of school or nursery if they are ill and have a high temperature — classed as 38°C or more.

The actions will help minimise the spread of Covid, flu and scarlet fever which are “circulating at high levels” and are “likely” to keep rising in the coming weeks, it said.

It comes amid stark warnings that the delays for care caused by the NHS crisis are killing 500 patients every week, with top doctors telling Britons that the situation is “much worse” than the darkest days of the Covid pandemic.

Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA, said adults should “try to stay home when unwell”.

Those that do have to go out should “wear a face covering”, she said.

Sick Britons were also told not to visit healthcare setting “unless urgent” and avoid vulnerable people.

Professor Hopkins said: “It’s important to minimise the spread of infection in schools and other education and childcare settings as much as possible.”

The ‘back-to-school advice’ also told parents to keep their child out of school or nursery if they have a high temperature.

Professor Hopkins said: “If your child is unwell and has a fever, they should stay home from school or nursery until they feel better and the fever has resolved.”

She also urged parents to teach youngsters good hand hygiene by practising regular handwashing at home with soap and warm water.

Children should also be told to catch coughs and sneezes in tissues and then bin them to help stop illness from spreading, Professor Hopkins said.

It’s also being reported that schools across the U.S. are bringing back mask policies this week.

It comes amid warnings that the NHS is on a “knife edge” and is facing its worst ever winter due to an A&E crisis that is “killing hundreds of patients every week“.