Eight people taken to hospital after ‘flu-like outbreak’ at Llangollen International Eisteddfod to be discharged
Llangollen Eisteddfod visitors who were hospitalised will be discharged this morning (July 10), health officials have said.
They said tests have shown the children have common respiratory viruses including flu, they are being treated and are recovering.
Eight people were taken to Wrexham Maelor Hospital last night after a concert at the major music festival was cancelled following an ‘extraordinary medical incident’ being declared.
Public Health Wales said a small group of children were being “medically assessed for mild respiratory symptoms, but they are not seriously unwell.”
In a follow-up statement 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."
Organisers of the Llangollen International Eisteddfod in Llangollen, North Wales, evacuated people from the festival and cancelled a concert as organisers said medical teams were dealing with the incident.
The event was for the Uniting Nations: One World Concert. Composer Karl Jenkins was due to conduct his powerful masterpiece, One World.
Organisers said the event is running as normal this morning.
The Welsh Ambulance Service was called to a number of reports of a medical incident at Llangollen International Eisteddfod.
It confirmed that eight patients were taken to Wrexham Maelor Hospital with flu-like symptoms.
A spokesperson for the Llangollen International Eisteddfod said it was forced to cancel the event, but it would continue on this morning.
The spokesperson added: "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 reopen at 9am, as we continue to welcome the world to Wales. We'd like to thank our staff, medical staff and our volunteers for their swift response."
The music festival is hosted over six days and sees singers and dancers from around the world compete in over 20 competitions. 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.
