Officials at St Mary’s Hospital advise us this morning that no new cases of Norovirus (viral gastroenteritis) have been reported since before the weekend.

As readers will know, over the past couple of weeks, there have been cancellations of non-urgent surgery, restrictions on visitors to the hospital as well as closure of some wards due to an outbreak of the Norovirus at St Mary’s Hospital.

With no new cases over the weekend, it’s anticipated that the virus has now been brought under control.

Carol Alstrom, Chief Nurse and Director of Infection Prevention & Control said: “The outbreak appears to be under control which is excellent news, but we cannot be complacent; Norovirus is prevalent outside the hospital at this time of year and easily transmitted. For this reason we have decided to continue to restrict visiting to essential visits only between the hours of 2-3pm and 7-8pm throughout the winter period until the end of February 2010. It is also essential that anyone visiting patients has been free of illness for at least 48 hours.”

We understand that non urgent, routine admissions for surgery will be back in business at the beginning of next year.

Carol Alstrom continued: “I would like to thank members of the public for following the advice we have given to them and our staff who have worked extremely hard over the past two weeks. Prompt action taken to close affected wards and isolate symptomatic patients, clean affected areas and restrict access to the hospital has helped to resolve the outbreak quickly and protect other patients in the hospital. It remains important that anyone visiting cleans their hands on entering the hospital and / or any clinical areas and does the same when leaving. There is no doubt that strict adherence to this regime prevents the spread of infection.”

Image: dreamingofariz under CC BY 2.0

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