AN escalating outbreak of suspected norovirus has forced the closure of another ward at Furness General Hospital.

Wards seven and nine were shut to visitors and admissions last Thursday, after it was “significantly affected” by the highly contagious bug.

Now a spokesman for the Morecambe Bay NHS trust has confirmed that the hospital's Medical Admission Unit is also now closed.
 

The spokesman said: "Despite every effort by the trust, the highly contagious bug has continued to spread and the MAU is now significantly affected.
 

"In order to ensure that the hospital can return to normal as soon as possible, the decision has been made to close the MAU to admissions and visitors until the situation improves."
 

The decision was made to close ward seven and nine to allow the outbreak on the wards to resolve.

Thanks to the cooperation of staff and the public, ward nine is now open.

The situation on ward seven has improved but the trust is still discouraging visiting unless absolutely necessary.
 

The spokesman continued: "The trust understands that there may be extenuating circumstances where members of the public need to visit loved ones, such as if they seriously ill.

"If this is the case, the public are asked to call ahead to the ward to arrange visiting.

"If it isn’t deemed as extenuating circumstances, they may be asked not to visit."
 

Other wards have smaller outbreaks and visitors are asked to look out for the signage outside the affected wards for further guidance.
 

All visitors to the remainder of the hospital are being asked to stay away from visiting if they have experienced diarrhoea or vomiting in the last 72 hours – unless they need emergency treatment.
 

Everyone that does enter the hospital is asked to wash their hands with soap and water before entering ward areas.

Mary Moore, Deputy Chief Nurse at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, said: “We’d like to thank all staff and visitors for their co-operation so far in helping us deal with this outbreak of norovirus.

"We know it will be inconvenient for people but the help of the public really does help control and resolve the outbreak."