A rise in Covid infections and admissions has meant a renewed ban on visitors to hospitals used by Shotley peninsula patients as from now.

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) has announced the restrictions will come into effect on the morning of New Year's Day and will affect visits to general wards.

Every hospital run by the ESNEFT, including in Ipswich, Colchester, Felixstowe, Clacton, the Fryatt Hospital in Harwich, Aldeburgh, and Bluebird Lodge in Ipswich.

There will be exceptions for those seeing patients in end of life care, or those in formal caring roles for patients, parents of children, and in the maternity ward.

"Once again, this has been a very tough decision to make," said Giles Thorpe, Chief Nurse at ESNEFT. "We understand how important visiting is to our patients and their families and friends, but we must do everything we can to keep everyone safe in our hospitals.

"We have been keeping a close eye on community COVID-19 infection rates and the number of people in our hospitals with the virus and this is action we really need to take now."

No date has been set for an t the new restrictions and the Trust insists the situation will be kept under regular review, in line with hospital admissions and community COVID-19 infection rates.

A decision will then be made about whether to continue with the suspension or return to a restricted visiting policy.

Mr Thorpe added: "We'd like to thank everyone in our communities for their support and understanding as we implement this change to our visiting policy once again. We appreciate your patience and will make changes as quickly as we can."