Health update issued after multiple children fall ill at festival
The children have been assessed and Public Health Wales has shared the results
The Llangollen Pavilion which hosts the International Eisteddfod
(Image: International Eisteddfod )
Public Health Wales has issued an update after multiple children fell ill at Llangollen International Eisteddfod. On Wednesday organisers of the festival confirmed that the "extraordinary medical incident" was a "flu-like outbreak" which involved several people reporting the same symptoms.
On Thursday Public Health Wales confirmed that a "small group of children" were affected by the symptoms. The body said the children are in hospital being assessed, but confirmed they are not seriously ill. In a further update on Thursday Public Health Wales confirmed tests carried out on the children indicate the presence of "common respiratory viruses", adding that they are due to be discharged this morning.
Dr Giri Shankar, Director of Health Protection for Public Health Wales said: "The visitors to the Llangollen International Eisteddfod who were assessed in hospital last night will be discharged this morning.
"Tests carried out on these children have indicated the presence of common respiratory viruses, including flu. They are being treated appropriately and are recovering. The risk to the public remains low."
The festival confirmed that the event had been cleared to run as normal on Thursday morning.
It is hosted annually over six days and sees singers and dancers from around the world compete in more than 20 competitions.
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It has a huge attendance of over 50,000 over the event and previous performers have included Luciano Pavarotti, Julian Lloyd Webber and Katherine Jenkins.
On Wednesday festival organisers shared: "We can confirm that following the declaration of an extraordinary incident by the Welsh Ambulance Service, following Public Health Wales advice - the incident related to a flu-like outbreak and related to multiple people with similar symptoms.
"The extraordinary incident was called by the Welsh Ambulance Service due to the number of people who presented ill at one time.
"The Llangollen International Eisteddfod takes the safety of its audience, competitors, performers and volunteers extremely seriously.
"Therefore, following advice - we were forced to cancel an event in this way for the first time in our history.
"We are pleased to report our site has been cleared to re-open tomorrow at 9am, as we continue to welcome the world to Wales.
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"We'd like to thank our staff, medical staff and our volunteers for their swift response this evening."
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