Fewer staff suffering from vomiting bug at St Vincent's

There has been an improvement in the number of staff affected by the winter vomiting bug at St. Vincent's Hospital.

Due to the approximate 48-hour cycle of the illness, a large number of staff have returned to work. Currently, there are 93 staff affected, compared to 143 yesterday.

There has been a slight increase in the number of new patient cases - up from 170 yesterday to 185 today.

All elective admissions are being "risk-assessed" and approximately 20-30 elective procedures are expected to be cancelled this week.

To help curtail the spread of the virus, the hospital is appealing to the public not to attend the A+E Department if only complaining of the effects of the virus as it can spread to other, more seriously ill, patients.