Norovirus hits mental hospital in Coalinga, flu bug at state prison

A norovirus that caused Coalinga State Hospital to limit patient activity and visitations for the past nine days is expected to be lifted Saturday.

Meanwhile, four inmates at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga remain on quarantine for an intestinal flu bug that tests determined was not norovirus.

At Coalinga State Hospital, 62 patients have been diagnosed with norovirus, a highly contagious virus that has been associated with outbreaks on cruise ships.

The state mental hospital instituted full facility restrictions on May 5 after a patient was diagnosed with norovirus on May 2, said Ken August, spokesman for the Department of State Hospitals. The restrictions included patient activities, visitations, staff and patient education about norovirus, close monitoring of ill patients and notification of outside providers.

One patient at the hospital remained ill Friday, August said. The hospital will lift patient and visitor restrictions on Saturday, except for one unit, he said.

No staff was affected, August said.

At Pleasant Valley State Prison, about a mile away from the mental hospital, an intestinal flu-bug caused a quarantine of 25 inmates this month, a prison spokesman said Friday.

The inmates came down with flu-like symptoms beginning April 28, said Lt. Ryan Anderson. Prison officials at first suspected the illness was a norovirus, Anderson said, but test results on May 2 were negative for the virus.

Until the test results, prisoners in one yard of the prison were quarantined to their cells, Anderson said. The prison has five yards, with each housing about 500 inmates. The 25 inmates who became ill were isolated in their cells until 72 hours after their last symptoms, he said.

“It’s just the flu,” Anderson said. No inmate was hospitalized, he said.

As of Friday, except for the four inmates who remained in quarantine, the flu outbreak “seems to be under control, the numbers are dropping, Anderson said.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Norovirus hits mental hospital in Coalinga, flu bug at state prison."