The two males and two females had tested positive for the virus earlier this month but were given the all clear a number of days ago, it has emerged.

THE Health Service Executive’s controversial timeline for the downgrading of hospital services in the mid-west should be deferred until unanswered questions over the safety of patients can be addressed, medics have urged.

TWO men were killed in separate house fires over the festive period in Dublin and Tipperary.

HEALTH officials have warned the winter vomiting bug, which has shut down wards in up to 17 hospitals, is a new strain that has been causing chaos in hospitals worldwide for the past four years.