Those looking to undergo elective surgery in the Cambridge Memorial Hospital might have to be put on a waiting list, that is, until the hospital contains the spread of a highly contagious virus.

According to Ann Bartlett, head of patient surgeries at Cambridge Memorial, she and her staff are doing all they can to keep that from happening.

Due to a recent outbreak of the Norovirus, formerly called the Norwalk virus, Cambridge Memorial’s officials and staff have been forced to use stringent measures in keeping the hospital clean and sanitary. If the virus isn’t contained, then elective surgeries will have to be sent other hospitals in Cambridge.

Although seldom fatal, the virus, which affects the intestinal area, causes severe diarrhea and vomiting. If unattended, dehydration could set in, leading to death. The problem with the Norovirus is that catching it is too easy. Symptoms of the disease are extremely quick to manifest as well.

Treatment is relatively easy, with patients being isolated in disinfected rooms. The hospital’s staffs are also dressed in completely sterile gowns, masks, and gloves to avoid transmission of the virus.

Hardly any visitors are allowed inside the isolation wards, which has caused some complaints among the community’s residents. According to doctors, the best thing they can do is to stop the spread of the virus as much as they can and wait until it dies out.