The critical incident was declared on 30 March due to the continued high levels of norovirus at East Surrey Hospital, the significant demand on emergency care services and challenges isolating and moving patients around the site in line with increased infection control measures.

Announcing the step down on 2 April, Dr Ed Cetti, chief medical officer for Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: ‘Thank you to all those who have supported our services in responding to this outbreak over recent days. While we are able to step down the incident, there continues to be a very high number of norovirus cases across our hospital and significant demand in our emergency department. This continues to impact how we are able to admit patients and move them around the site. 

‘To help keep patients safe, we are therefore extending the temporary visiting restrictions in place for all our wards at East Surrey Hospital until further notice, with the exception of patients on end of life care, in our maternity and paediatric wards, and in ED. We know how important visiting is, especially at times like Easter, and we apologise to our patients who might be impacted. We are keeping these measures under close review and are committed to lifting them as soon as we can safely do so.'

Additional infection control measures remain in place, including practicing good hand-hygiene, reducing movement around the site and wearing masks in affected clinical areas.