A TOTAL ban on visiting at the Alexandra Hospital has now been introduced after another outbreak of the highly infectious Norovirus.

The move comes just a month after the hospital banned visitors from its wards following the lead of Worcestershire Royal and Kidderminster hospitals because of the winter vomiting bug.

At the beginning of December last year Worcestershire Royal Hospital banned visitors after 40 patients in four wards were diagnosed.

One case was found at Kidderminster and 19 people showing similar symptoms were admitted in Redditch.

The Alex also had to postpone a number of operations and surgery for several days in September due to Norovirus and visitors were asked to only go to hospital if essential.

An NHS Trust spokesman said: “These are bugs that are common in the community and many of the affected patients have become ill while at home or elsewhere and had to come in for treatment as a result of the debilitating effects of that infection.

“If we admit a patient for treatment who has Norovirus then obviously we have to focus on nursing them back to health, but we also have to do everything we can to make sure that their infection isn’t passed on to other patients, or visitors, or staff.

“That means isolating them as much as possible, making sure that our normal stringent cleaning regimes are closely observed and all necessary extra deep cleaning of affected areas carried out.

“What we’ve learnt from previous outbreaks is that swift action can help to limit the spread of these highly contagious infections which is why we have now moved from a partial to a total visiting ban at the Alex as part of a package of measures to limit the spread.”

They added: “We are sympathetic to the needs of our patients and we don’t want anyone to suffer as a result of this ban, so we would advise anyone with concerns about visiting to contact the relevant matron or ward manager.”

Norovirus, or winter vomiting bug, is a contagious virus that normally lasts for one or two days.

But some vulnerable or elderly people may need hospital treatment to help them recover.

For more information, visit www.worcsacute.nhs.uk.