Care homes across the North East of England have begun restricting visitors in a bid to keep their residences safe as the coronavirus cases rise across the UK.
Council chiefs in Newcastle, Gateshead, and South Tyneside are understood to have written to care homes in the last week asking them to stop visits.
It comes after Boris Johnson warned the nation that the virus is beginning to spread rapidly again, with the government limiting social gatherings in England to six people from Monday.
Care homes closed to visitors at the peak of the pandemic but families had been able to visit again since July.
Last night Newcastle Council wrote to providers asking them close their doors as a precaution.
The letter read “Due to the increase in infection rates we are now asking that homes temporarily suspend non-essential visits to support infection prevention and control”.
A spokesman for the council confirmed the change but stressed that visits were still possible for those at the end of life or with dementia.
Gateshead jas also called on care homes to close their doors to visitors - as a rise in cases their saw it put on a national watch list this afternoon.
According to the councils figures show that cases have more than trebled in the last seven days with 113 new cases in the first week of September.
This equates to around 55 cases per 100,000 people and the rate continues to grow.
Alice Wiseman, Director of Public Health, said: "This is an extremely worrying situation for the borough and, if the infection continues to spread, we are likely to see some form of local restrictions.
"We are now seeing cases in every part of Gateshead which shows that the virus is circulating in the wider community.
"We ask residents to think about their role in spreading the virus."
Last Thursday, when they announced similar restrictions after a spike in cases, South Tyneside Council said: "Our priority continues to be to take steps to mitigate the risk of coronavirus transmissions in South Tyneside.
"In order to protect some of the most vulnerable in our community, we have asked care providers to temporarily cease visiting to residents."
A Department of Health of Social Care spokesperson said: “ We know that limiting visits in care homes has been difficult for many families and residents who want to see their loved ones.
"Our first priority is to prevent infections in care homes, and this means that visiting should still be restricted with alternatives sought wherever possible.
“Visiting policies are a decision for the care home provider and should be tailored to the individual care home and based on advice based on the advice from local public health leads, taking into account local risks in their area. ”
