Hospital shuts wards and tells visitors they can't come after surge in viruses

03 January 2024 , 21:14

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Morriston Hospital in Swansea has paused visiting access (Image: WalesOnline/Gayle Marsh)

A hospital has stopped visitors until further notice due to rising numbers of unpleasant infections, including Norovirus.

Morriston Hospital, in Swansea, south Wales, has had to close seven wards due to the surge in Norovirus, Covid, flu or C.difficile (a bacterial infection which causes diarrhoea). While work is underway to prevent infections from spreading further, routine visiting has been paused from today.

It is not known when visiting will resume at the 750-bed NHS facility. The decision comes as experts fear at least 100,000 people nationally - including children - are at risk of developing Long Covid in the coming weeks. Coronavirus and flu are on the rise across the UK.

Bosses at Morriston Hospital said diarrhoea and vomiting, stomach cramps and aching limbs are symptoms of Norovirus. It, and other hospitals across the UK, are "full" largely due to people showing these symptoms and those of other winter illnesses.

But visiting is still permitted at Morriston in certain instances, for example, patients who are at the end of life, or the last days of life. Carers and relatives providing practical help and care for the patient when they visit such as help with mealtimes and hydration, or support for patients with dementia or other clinical needs, are still permitted to visit. However, this should be agreed in advance in liaison with the ward manager, Wales Online reports.

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For children receiving treatment, parents can still visit but this is restricted to one parent at a time. For patients who require an essential support assistant for specific additional support, e.g. a support worker or interpreter, these essential support assistants are not to be classed as visitors.

Cases of coronavirus were on a stark rise in the build-up to Christmas as the latest hospital figures showed a 20 per cent jump in daily admissions in the week to 22 December. A report released tomorrow by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is expected to confirm Covid cases and hospitalisations have risen considerably since that last update.

Ffion Lewis