VISITORS have been banned from Worcestershire Royal Hospital following the Norovirus outbreak.

The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the hospital in Newtown Road in Worcester put out a statement banning visitors late this morning following the outbreak which causes violent sickness and diarrhoea.

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Norovirus is a virus which is easily transmitted from one person to another. It is passed on by contact with an infected person, by consuming contaminated food or water or by contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. It is present in the community and a few cases have now been identified on wards at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

“Because of its highly contagious nature and in order to protect vulnerable patients and avoid the spread of the infection, we have decided to implement a ban on visiting to all wards at Worcestershire Royal Hospital."

The spokesman said the trust acknowledged that this may cause some difficulty but that the support of families and visitors is needed to contain the outbreak.

Patients who have outpatient appointments should attend as long as they are well or have been free of any symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting for more than 48 hours.

Some non urgent elective surgery at Worcestershire Royal have been cancelled and all patients affected have been informed.

We reported in your Worcester News today how four wards had so far been hit by the highly infectious bug.