Hospital bans festive decorations

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Christmas decorations have been banned from a hospital in Norfolk in an effort to halt the spread of the Norovirus winter vomiting bug.

Families and friends of in-patients at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), King's Lynn, are also asked to stay away unless their visits are essential.

The restrictions on visitors and decorations were brought in on the advice of infection control experts.

They aim to limit the ways in which the highly infectious bug is transmitted.

A total of 109 patients and 95 staff at the hospital have had the diarrhoea and vomiting symptoms of Norovirus since the outbreak began last month. Seventeen patients and two staff are still affected.

We have to take a very tough line for the sake of our patients and their families QEH spokesman

Visitors to the QEH have previously been asked not to bring in chocolates, biscuits, flowers or balloons, and to observe strict hand-hygiene procedures.

A QEH spokesman said: "On the face of it our new restrictions may appear unnecessarily harsh.

"But if we are to prevent the winter vomiting bug from spreading further we have to take a very tough line for the sake of our patients and their families."

The decision on whether to allow decorations on the wards will be reviewed on Christmas Eve.

The only exception to the ban is on the children's ward.