Berkshire hospitals have tightened their visiting rules as Covid cases rise and staff are forced to isolate.

Masks and lateral flow tests will be mandatory after the virus caused 82 staff at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust to stay home sick on Boxing Day – the latest date for which data is available.

Towns across Berkshire recorded their highest ever number of infections in a single day on Wednesday: 544 cases in Reading; 402 in Slough; 498 in Bracknell; and 481 in Windsor and Maidenhead.*

“We appreciate this is very difficult for both visitors and patients but it is essential to ensure the safety of everyone at the hospital. We will be keeping the situation under constant review,” said the Trust.

Read more: Children will have to wear masks in secondary school classrooms in England

The new guidelines will affect adult, paediatric and maternity wards.

Visitors to all adult wards must wear a mask. Visitors who don’t wear a mask will not be permitted to visit. Those exempt from mask wearing will only be permitted to visit in very exceptional circumstances.

Visiting to adult wards is limited to one person for essential visits only, and they must be pre-booked with the ward manager. Visitors must do a Lateral Flow Test (LFT) before visiting and only attend if this is negative.

Parents, or guardians, are able to visit paediatric wards at any time without having to make appointments. Other visitors are only allowed by exception.

Read more: Dozens of Royal Berks Hospital staff self-isolating due to coronavirus

All visitors attending paediatric wards must carry out LFTs and be negative, and they must wear masks whilst in the hospital.

In maternity, parents and their one additional visitor do not need to make an appointment to visit.

On the ward, a single named visitor can be with the mother from 8.30am to 8.30pm.

One additional visitor can visit between 2pm-6pm. This person cannot change during the duration of the woman’s stay. The maximum number of people at the woman’s bedside is 2.

On the postnatal ward, the supporter and any other visitor must provide proof of a negative LFT from the last 3 days before visiting the ward. They need to provide a new test result every 3 days and must wear masks.

*Figures could rise as Public Health England data is not yet complete.