20/12/2012 BBC Wales Today

Good evening. In Wales Today: The winter vomiting bug on the rise

Also tonight, Jodie is struggling to keep a roof over her head. Now

thousands more like her asking for help. It was so hard. I didn't want

to be in a hostel knowing I would be there when I had the baby.

new housing estate was devastated by flooding. The council orders an

independent investigation. This new housing estate was

devastated by flooding. Now the council orders an independent

investigation. Put our street lights back on - the

residents facing a huge bill and a tough battle to get the switch

flicked. The Christmas whisky rush is well

under way, and now plans to triple production at Penderyn.

And after breaking records at the Olympics, it's back to the day job

for Gareth Evans. I tell them he's like Superman going back to being

Clark Kent. There's been a significant increase

in the number of people suffering from the winter vomiting bug,

norovirus. Official figures show nearly 560 cases - an increase of

66 per cent on last year. But with many sufferers choosing not to see

a doctor, officials say the true figure could be over 150,000.

Still in fine voice, but choristers are thinner on the ground at this

school in Cardiff this time of the year. Like many schools and

workplaces, it has been hit by norovirus, also known as the winter

vomiting bug. This year, grown-ups have been hit hardest. More staff

this year it than before. You can say to an adult, you are feeling

queasy or nauseated, goal way, I don't want to see you for 48 hours

so we don't spread this. Children are not as easy. Figures show a 66

per cent increase in confirmed cases this winter, up from 334 to

557, and it has affected hospitals all over Wales. At the moment, two

wards are close to admissions at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, while

four are shut in Prince Charles Hospital. The University Hospital

of Wales has six wards closed, and another has two closed. 35 people

were taken ill in North Wales earlier this week, and two awards

are still closed in Bangor. But a doctor who has seen more people

suffering at his surgery near Prestatyn says this is the tip of

the iceberg. Some of these viruses are incredibly infectious. We as

doctors cannot emphasise good hygiene, particularly after you

have been to the toilet, enough, but some of these viruses, you just

need to be in the same room as someone who has it and you may be

unfortunate and catch it through a droplets. So what exactly is

norovirus? It is a small, round virus, also called the winter

mutating disease because it can only get it during winter. It

causes sudden, heavy vomiting and diarrhoea, and is normally passed

from hand to hand. Most people recover after 24 hours but it can

be worse for children. We asking these people, if they are unwell,

because of the short duration of symptoms, but they don't attend a

knee or GP practices. If they need to see a GP they should ring up in

the first instance. -- attend accident and emergency. They should

make sure they get enough fluids. For these children, it looks like a

norovirus free Christmas, but it is fast becoming a fixture of the

festive season that no one wants. Joining me now is Martin Semple,

associate director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales. How

serious is norovirus? It is very contagious, as a contributor

pointed out. It is very robust. It's a by some hard services for up

to 24 hours so cleaning is important, and if it gets on so --

soft services like clothing it can survive for several days --

surfaces. While the symptoms are unpleasant, they are mostly not

dangerous, so the emphasis is on hygiene, both hand hygiene and

washing contaminated clothing and services. -- services. Is there an

explanation for the increase this year? There might be, but one of

the challenges with this virus is that it is not a notifiable disease,

so many will suffer at home. For everyone reported we suspect

hundreds don't have it -- haven't reported, and it is difficult to

work that out. Many hospital wards have had to close, haven't they?

What is being done to contain it? It is all about containment, so we

don't want people in the wards to have the virus is taken out of the

wards and into the community, or people in the community with the

virus taking it into hospitals. So while it is very difficult, there

is restricted -- restricted visiting during infection times at

hospital wards. It is important that those who feel ill with

nauseate or diarrhoea do not visit loved ones during that time. Those

in hospital who were ill or frail are more susceptible to the side

effects. Is the increase in cases putting great pressure on hospital

staff? Enormous pressure, because staff get ill as well as patients

and have to be covered by other staff who work longer hours and

more days. While there is a massive voluntary effort, we can contribute

to reducing the pressure by asking people not to visit when they feel

unwell themselves. Martin Semple, thank you. The number of people

asking for help with homelessness has gone up for the second year

running. BBC Wales has found more than 19,000 people have approached

councils desperate for help. Charities are warning there could

be more people homeless than official figures show. Paul Heaney

reports. Sleeping rough on the street like

these people in Swansea is often the image associated with

homelessness. But more families are asking for help keeping a roof over

their head, too. Jodie Jones from Cardiff was on benefits and

couldn't find anywhere to live whilst she was pregnant with her

daughter. After being accepted as homeless, she's now in temporary

accommodation waiting for a house. When they asked me to leave when I

was pregnant, my parents, there was no room, so it was so hard. I

didn't want to be in a hospital knowing -- in a hostel knowing I

would have the baby there. More than 19,000 people went to

their council and claimed they were homeless in the last financial year

in Wales - up 27% on the year before. The councils then judged

those claims. In 6,500 cases they agreed they were homeless according

to set criteria. Those criteria include things like

having a link to the local area, and whether or not someone has made

themselves intentionally homeless by not paying their rent.

This charity accommodation near Mold in Flintshire has noticed more

families coming to them for help. 17-year-old Chiara Gath found

herself homeless with her six- month-old baby, and is pregnant

again. Becoming homeless and going through

the stages with the refuges, you sort of see how many people are

homeless and hear their stories. I think there could be a lot more

family support to prevent it before this does happen.

Campaigners say the root causes of homelessness need to be looked at

closely. They really have to go through an ordeal very often,

because that family has not been looked at as a unique family. You

can put a roof over their head or help resettle them into the

community, but it goes around and they fall out again, and this is

one of the deepest concerns. The Welsh Government say they've

made extra funding available to help prevent people ending up on

streets, and changes in the benefit system are having a negative effect

on housing. But the UK Government say they're making the system

fairer by cutting housing benefits for people in houses that are

bigger than they really need. Homeless charities say they expect

the situation to get worse. For now, Jodie's on a housing

waiting list and is glad to have a roof over her head this Christmas,

when thousands of others in Wales The rock band, Lostprophets, have

released a statement saying they're in a "state of shock" after their

lead singer, Ian Watkins, appeared in court charged with child sex

offences. The 35-year-old from Pontypridd faces six charges

relating to sexual offences against two young children, including a

one-year-old girl. He's due to appear at Cardiff Crown Court at

the end of the month. Government ministers have offered

to support Pembrokeshire Council after two reports criticised its

actions. Its policy on safeguarding children was criticised last year,

while earlier this week the Auditor General questioned the "speed and

rigour" of change. The council says it's committed to addressing the

issues. Residents of a Swansea housing

estate are battling to keep their street lights on this Christmas.

The problem all started when the developer went bust and stopped

paying for the electricity. Now they're in a dispute with the

council over who should pay the bill. James Williams has the story.

The street lights are off, yet everyone is home. But the residents

of this housing estate in Birch Grove have done their best to gear

up for Christmas despite being in the darkness for some two months.

Our first response was, maybe it is a problem with the lights, and a

few cub -- phone calls later it turned out the electricity had been

deliberately cut off by the electricity company because the

bill hadn't been paid. Since 2008, as it turns out, when the property

firm who built by housing estate, David Maclean, went to the wall. It

went unnoticed by Swalec into recently, and they refuse to flick

the switch into will Swansea Council or the residents pay up.

Because the street was never handed over by the builder to the council,

the council actually has no obligation to maintain the street,

but it is willing to do so if it is up to the required standards, which

will cost �17,000 to the residents. As a goodwill gesture, the council

will meet 20 per cent of the cast, leaving more than �300 per

household. Swansea Council has said it sympathises with the residents

and has been working with them to resolve the matter when no one else

would, but it is little comfort for the people of the estate. Hello.

For this woman and her husband, providing a safe home for Jessica

and Ben is paramount. They don't necessarily know the situation, and

it is a concern that someone could come around the corner one day in

the dark and not see the children, and we're in this situation at the

moment. We have been played -- paying full council tax for nine

years since Jack -- in January, and as we understand abortion is

supposed to go towards street lighting. Discussions -- back a

portion is supposed to go towards street lighting.

Still to come: Aiming to take Welsh whisky around

the world - Penderyn looks to triple production.

And after Olympic success, it's back down to earth and back to the

Denbighshire Council is launching an independent investigation into

flooding in Ruthin last month. More than one hundred properties were

flooded on the Glasdir estate, and a report by the Environment Agency

said blocked culverts were partly to blame. Our reporter, Dafydd

Evans, is in Denbigh for us tonight. Thanks, Lucy. I am at Denbigh High

School, where sixth-formers are tonight holding an auction to save

money for flood victims in the area. Some people have just started

arriving and the students have been going around local businesses

gathering pledges worth �700, and I know they are looking to top �1,000

later tonight. The fund-raising efforts are ongoing, then, as our

efforts to find out exactly why so many people were affected last

month. Yesterday, we heard the Environment Agency's explanation of

events at Glasdir. Today, Denbighshire Council responded.

Over 100 properties were affected on the Glasdir estate at the end of

November when waters rose from the River Clwyd. This is the culvert

that was supposed to keep residents say from floods, but a report by

the Environment Agency suggests that on the day of the floods, it

had become partially blocked. An aerial photo taken from a police

helicopter that day showers water wasn't flowing probably under the

road and into flood prevention channels. The report states that it

appears the road was acting as a damn. Today, the body responsible

for clearing the culvert, Denbighshire Council, says the

conclusion of yesterday's report is a partial explanation. They are

setting up an independent investigation into what happened.

There is an issue with the performance of the Carl Roberts,

and we are responsible for them, -- the culverts. We didn't investigate

them because there was no flood warning issued on the day. Having

known there was a risk of a flat, we would probably have done it, so

yes, they should have been checked on the day of the floods, that is

clear. This is a photo sent to BBC Wales by a resident on the estate,

appearing to show how neglected the area close to the culvert had

become. Here we go. Shall we go to the front room? Many residents are

facing Christmas in temporary accommodation, their homes

uninhabitable. Now, when it starts to rain, you look out the window

and think, what's going to happen? We need reassurance and guarantee

now what will be done, like they had promised from day one, that the

river gets seen to, and it just doesn't happen again.

construction firm Taylor Wimpy today confirm that they are not

responsible for the Culbert but will look at what improvements can

be made. -- the Culbert. The group representing local residents has

met local politicians. What is important is that we find out

exactly what happened. I don't think people in Ruthin are

interested in the blame game. They want the truth, to find out what

has been going on. Denbighshire Council expect the report to be

ready by April next year. Well, the auction will begin here

at Denbigh High School very shortly, and fund-raising is certainly

needed, Lucy, because by that time that report is published, some

people may still be without a home. Thank you.

A man accused of killing Cardiff student Amir Siddiqi has told a

court he cannot explain how the teenager's blood came to be found

on one of his shirts. The 17-year- old was killed at his home in

Cardiff two years ago. Jason Richards denied the blood was on

his clothes because he had carried out the murder. He says his co-

defendant Ben Hope killed Mr Siddiqi. The case continues.

The number of people prosecuted for attacks on NHS staff in Wales has

gone up significantly in the past year according to new figures.

There have been nearly 400 prosecutions in the last two and a

half years. More than 500 sanctions like ASBOs were also given. It

comes as a new campaign is launched warning people against violence

towards hospital staff. The main whisky distiller in Wales

has set out plans to triple production. The expansion at

Penderyn Whisky, near Aberdare, will transform it from a niche

operation into a whisky maker capable of producing more than

400,000 bottles a year. Here's our Business Correspondent, Nick

The Christmas rush is well under way at Penderyn. In future, this

rich could be much greater as a result of an investment of close to

�1 million. It is a big milestone for the company, bringing a

distillery into being is a challenge in itself, and getting

that business and the brand established is quite a challenge,

but we are now at the next stage, of expanding to become a much more

significance sized business. Penderyn whisky launched its single

malt on St David's Day eight years ago. It was so successful it ran

out to stop within days. That would be a problem after this expansion,

although because of the ageing process, it will take up to seven

years before the new whisky is ready to be sold. Most of its

current sales are with British supermarkets. In future, it will be

making a big push on exports. But can it compete against so many

well-established Scottish brands out there? Well, one way could be

to make a virtue of the fact that instead of being one of many, it is

in fact the only distillery in Wales with its whisky on sale. End

yet the company is keen not to overplay that and become a kind of

one-off Welsh novelty purchase. So interestingly, it has a house rule

which bans the use of dragon's and daffodils bar on any of its

marketing. One branding expert believes it has got a chance of

success, but there are major challenges. If you have two brands

of similar price and equal quality of packaging, one is from Wales and

one is from Scotland, it as a consumer, about 90 per cent will

choose the Scotch whisky, because Scotch whisky has provenance and is

known for producing quality products. There will be local

benefits to this, but the biggest potential benefit here will be

whether a brand named after a village in the Brecon Beacons can

establish itself in a global whisky industry.

Rugby, and Wales winger Alex Cuthbert has signed a new three-

year deal with Cardiff Blues. He rejected offers from other clubs,

bucking the trend of top players moving to France, with Jamie

Roberts and Dan Lydiate leaving next season.

2012 has been an Olympic year. Many stars of the Games will go on to

fame and fortune, but for athletes competing in sports without a high

profile it means returning to the day job. Holyhead weightlifter

Gareth Evans broke all his personal bests in London, but is now back

working full time, eaming of a gold medal in the Commonwealth games in

two years' time. Here's Matt Murray. 2012 has been Gareth Evans's

greatest year, breaking one Welsh record and equalling another. But

now five months later, the gloss of the Games has faded and it is back

to the day-job for Gareth. I have been brought down to earth a little

bit. People ask me and I tell them it is like Superman going back --

back to being cut Kent, when he takes his suitor off and that.

26-year-old made major personal sacrifices to make their games,

moving to Leeds and quitting his job and leaving his three-year-old

daughter at home with his family in Hollywood -- Holyhead. He and his

friend James have started their own painting and decorating business,

so he balances being a dad, a decorator and a dedicated athlete.

It is not easy. I envy all the athletes out there who can train

twice a day. After close to 15 years of training, London saw

Gareth smash all his personal bests. The 6000 people cheering me on on

27th July was worth all 14 years. I would do every injury, every bad

session, every pair of sore hands I have ever had in 14 years, I would

do it all again for another six goals on that platform. It was

absolutely incredible. He has to fit in training after work. This

week, weightlifting receive extra funding for the real Olympics, but

it doesn't go far. When Gareth was training full-time for London he

received just �400 a month and needed a high-calorie diet which

wasn't cheap. I was on 8000 calories a day in Leeds just to try

and sustain my body weight. I have come back, gone to work, I don't

have four or five meals a day, and I have lost the weight, and I am

struggling to put strength on, so I need to find a big bag of cash and

stop working and just train full- time. So if anyone finds one...!

Gareth trains in this new weightlifting centre in Holyhead

and hopes more youngsters will get involved in the sport. Holyhead has

a rich history when it comes to weightlifting. Gareth is their

first Olympian but the town has produced three Commonwealth

medallists, and Gareth now has his sights firmly set on Glasgow and

that gold medal. One of those Commonwealth champions is Gareth's

coach, Ray Williams, who is now focusing on getting a gold for his

student. To win a gold medal in Glasgow would be an accolades that

I felt and cherished and it gets better with age. I am the best

lifter to come out of the club so far, be only one who has gone to

the Olympics, but might opinion is... I have to win a Commonwealth

gold medal to equal him, so that is the plan. So painting and training

will now have to go side by side if Gareth plans on being a

Commonwealth champion in Glasgow and making real in four years' time.

-- map-making Rio de Janeiro. Many of us have had a good soaking

today. There is more wet and windy weather --

There's more wet and windy weather on the way on Saturday, but

tomorrow is going to be much drier. The radar shows today's rain.

Tredegar one of the wettest places in the last 24 hours, with rising

rivers and flooding on some roads. This picture was taken in Cadoxton

near Neath by Mike Davies. At the moment, there is one flood warning

in force in the Lower Dee Valley, and 13 flood alerts. This evening

and tonight, the rain will ease and clear, so turning much drier, but

with all the moisture on the ground. Misty in places with fog patches,

and chilly inland. Temperatures falling as low as two Celsius. I

wouldn't rule out ground frost. Milder on the coast. Tomorrow will

bring a respite from the rain, but more fronts are looming over the

Atlantic and they are heading our way. The good news - tomorrow is

the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Weather-wise,

tomorrow we're in for a better day, much drier. Mind you, it will be

grey and murky in places first thing. Some low cloud and mist and

a few fog patches as well. Perhaps a spot of drizzle in Snowdonia,

otherwise dry with light winds. Temperature Wise, seven Celsius, 45

Fahrenheit in Cardigan. During the day, any mist and fog will lift,

leaving a dry afternoon, and in places brightening up with some

sunshine. Top temperatures around eight to 10 Celsius with light

winds in Flintshire tomorrow. Not bad for this time of year. Dry and

brightening up, some sunshine, with a high of 10 in Holywell. In

Pembrokeshire tomorrow, dry, some cloud and mild. A high of 11 in

Newgale. 5252 Fahrenheit. Tomorrow evening, mostly dry with mist and

fog patches but more rain will arrive after midnight. -- -- 52

Fahrenheit. The wind picking up as well. Saturday wet and windy -

another dose of heavy rain with an ongoing risk of flooding. Sunday

should be drier. Quite windy and mild. More rain by Monday, with a

green rather than white Christmas. So, much drier tomorrow, but rivers

will remain swollen. A few will even continue to rise. And with

more rain on the way by Saturday, we're not out of the woods as far

as flooding is concerned. Time for the Christmas pictures.

The first is by Megan Jones from Llangattock in Powys. Next, Father

Christmas by Theo Broughton from Dinas Powys. And last but not least,

a reindeer by Ellie Daniels from Llwynypia. Well, there's been

plenty of rain today with more on the way, but tomorrow will be much

We need to make the most of it, don't we? The headlines from the

BBC: There are more than 300 flood warnings and alerts across the UK

tonight after 24 hours of near continuous rain and the ground

saturated after the rain fall of the last few weeks. Trains have

been cancelled and roads closed. There has been a significant

increase in the number of people suffering from the winter vomiting

bug, norovirus, in Wales. Official figures show nearly 560 cases, an

increase of 66 per cent on last year. If the viruses -- virus gets

on soft services like clothing, it can survive for several days, so

while the symptoms of the disease are unpleasant, they are mostly not

dangerous, so the emphasis is on hygiene, both hand hygiene and

washing up contaminated clothing and services.

And the number of people asking for help with homelessness has gone up

for the second year running to more than 19,000.

Apologies for that. Just a quick reminder, if you have

a story you think we should cover, let us know, we would love to hear

from you. E-mail us, or call our audience line.