First Covid-19 cases confirmed at Cork nursing home
That A Tested Covid Has Nursing Have In 19 Residents Cork Home Five City For Positive Confirmed
A nursing home in Cork City has confirmed that five residents have tested positive for Covid-19 — the first confirmed cases amongst residents of the facility since the start of the pandemic.
Management at Saint Luke’s Home in Blackrock, on the southside of the city, said they are “actively managing the situation” in association with the HSE and the Department of Public Health, and have notified Hiqa.
The 128-bed nursing home has also implemented a detailed contingency plan in the event of such an outbreak.
All residents of the nursing home were tested for Covid-19 on New Year’s Day. Those results were returned today, with five residents testing positive.
In addition, 19 staff are unavailable for work for Covid-19 related reasons - some have tested positive for the virus while others have been deemed as being close contacts of a confirmed case, or are themselves, feeling unwell.
Tony O’Brien, the chief executive of Saint Luke’s Home, said they notified residents and their families earlier today of the first positive cases. In his letter to residents and their families, he said he was sorry to have to report the first positive cases in the facility since last March.
“We are sorry and disappointed to have to report to you that we have been notified of our first positive cases of coronavirus among residents in the home since the start of the pandemic,” he said.
“ While the situation is very fluid please rest assured that we are currently and actively managing the situation along with our colleagues in the HSE and the Department of Public Health.
"We have also notified HIQA.
“We have implemented our detailed contingency plan for such an event.
“Our primary concern is focused on our residents and we will do our absolute utmost to protect and care for them.
“We will continue to keep you informed on a regular basis.
“We have travelled together up to this point and I know we can count on your continued support as you can count on ours”.
The chairman of the Board of Directors, Bishop Paul Colton, said his foremost concern, and that of his fellow directors, is on the well-being and care of the home's residents and their families, as well as support for the home's management team and staff.
“Like other healthcare professionals throughout this pandemic, our team at Saint Luke’s have been, and are, working at the very limit of endurance since this started,” he said.
“Until now, at the start of 2021, we have been most fortunate in having no positive cases among our residents, so this development is of immense concern to us all.”
St Luke’s Home, which was founded on the northside of Cork city in 1872, is run by a voluntary not-for-profit charity.