14,549 new cases confirmed as recent case spike puts HSE under ‘huge pressure’
With To As Said Service Deal Cases Staff Colm Struggles Health Henry Than Absent From 6,000 A The More There (pa) In Dr Spike Work, Are
A further 14,549 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed this afternoon by officials at the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
5,962 of the cases were confirmed by PCR testing while the remaining 8,587 cases were recorded through postive antigen test results uploaded to the HSE's portal.
As of 8am this morning, 1,605 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, down 20 since yesterday.
Of these patients, 50 are being treated in intensive care, a decrease of four on yesterday's total.
Meanwhile the HSE's chief clinical officer has said the health service is under "huge pressure" following a large number of new cases of Covid-19 reported over the weekend.
Dr Colm Henry said there are more than 6,000 healthcare staff absent from work as the service struggles to deal with the spike.
Almost 40,000 Covid-19 diagnoses were reported over the weekend alone.
It comes as the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said the number of infections is amounting to hundreds of thousands a week.
Dr Henry said hospitals are seeing an ongoing rise in cases, with around 1,600 people in hospital with Covid.
He said around half were admitted with the disease, with the other half picking it up while in hospital.
On Monday, the Emergency Department Taskforce urged the Government to consider bringing back a number of public health measures to help contain the virus.
Dr Henry said he agrees with the reintroduction of mask wearing and urged the public to continue wearing face coverings on public transport and in “congested areas”.
He said: “We are dealing with a new variant, the BA.2 variant, which is much more transmissible.
“Fortunately, due to the vaccination programme and the booster programme, we see less severe illnesses associated with this variant.
“The harm associated with Covid is much diminished because of the vaccination programme – it reduces serious illness. While there is a small rise in patients with Covid in intensive care, it’s not nearly as marked as January 2021.
“The health service is under huge pressure. We see disruption to services and widespread absences.”
Dr Henry said the spike is “causing considerable disruption to unscheduled care”, with some operations cancelled and community services affected.
Dr Henry told RTE’s that Covid figures will continue to grow before starting to plateau – followed by a slow decline.
He said around half of those sick with Covid in hospital are unvaccinated.
Asked about the request from the task force for the reintroduction of public health measures, Dr Henry said: “We don’t need a task force to tell us or Government to tell us what we already know and the right things to do.
“We need to see much greater compliance. The pandemic has not gone away.
“It’s all the more reason to carry a mask and wear it on transport or in congested settings.
“That advice remains strong.”