More US hospitals mandate masks and limit visitors as flu and Covid cases surge

Frank Cope waits outside for a car after a checkup at Bellevue Hospital in New York (Mary Conlon/AP)

More US hospitals are requiring masks and limiting visitors as health officials face an expected but still nasty post-holiday spike in flu, Covid and other illnesses.

While many experts say this season likely will not prove to be as deadly as some other recent winters, it could still mean hundreds of thousands of hospital admissions and many thousands of deaths across the country.