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Norovirus emergency at NHH is over

By Cecilia Nasmith


Northumberland Hills Hospital says that precautions and restrictions surrounding the identification of Norovirus on their 2A medical-surgical unit have now been lifted.

The outbreak was identified Jan. 20, and visitor restrictions were extended to the adjacent maternal-child unit Jan. 23 as a precaution. With no new cases reported over the required period, the hospital press release said, infection-prevention and -control practitioners have confirmed with representatives from the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit that patient-to-patient transmission has been stopped successfully.

Admissions to the unit have resumed, and surrounding health-care facilities are being notified.

Nevertheless, NHH reminds all visitors of the importance of routine infection-prevention practices.

Hand washing remains one of the single most important infection-prevention and -control practices to stop transmission of gastrointestinal illness and other infections diseases – both within the hospital environment and out in the community.