Norovirus takes a local grip

Health chiefs are pleading with people in the Welshpool area to stay at home if they have been struck down by the dreaded norovirus.

The sickness and diarrhoea bug has taken a grip in the Welshpool area, hitting schools and businesses hard and threatening to put a dampener on Christmas.

Leighton School has already broken up two days early to undergo a deep clean, while across the border several schools in the Telford area have shut.

It has prompted the warning from health chiefs to stay away from hospitals and doctors’ surgeries and to sit it out in isolation if you are affected. Symptoms can start suddenly, within one-two days of being infected.

“You are infectious for up to two days after the symptoms have stopped,” The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has said in a statement.

“With this in mind, we ask you to avoid visiting our hospitals if there is a chance you could be infectious in order to protect our patients and staff.

“You can catch norovirus very easily – washing your hands frequently with soap and water is the best way to stop it spreading. Alcohol hand gel does not kill norovirus.”