DUBLIN: The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in Irish hospitals fell on Tuesday from the highest level recorded since the pandemic began a day earlier, as a surge in infections that threatened to overwhelm the health system began to ease.
Ireland had the fastest-growing incidence rate in Europe at the start of the year, fuelled by the relaxation of restrictions ahead of Christmas and the increasing prevalence of a new, more transmissible variant first detected in England.
That led to 2,020 patients being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 by Monday, more than double the previous peak set in the first wave of infections in April. The total fell 3% to 1,954 on Tuesday as more patients were discharged than admitted.
“It’s a slight reduction. We’re coping but we are under very significant strain and we really need a very, very strong, sustained effort from the public. This level of transmission is still extremely high,” Paul Reid, the head of Ireland’s Health Service Executive, told national broadcaster RTE.
Most non-urgent procedures in the country’s hospitals were cancelled two weeks ago to divert resources to COVID-19 care with some of those empty beds turned into makeshift intensive care units (ICU) to deal with the surge.
The number of COVID-19 patients in ICU rose at a slower pace to 199 on Tuesday from 196 a day earlier. Most hospitals are at or close to critical care capacity.
Ireland’s 7-day COVID-19 incidence rate per 100,000 people has fallen for eight straight days to 470 on Monday from a high of 960 on Jan. 10 after the government imposed its strictest lockdown measures since early last year.
Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer, Tony Holohan, said on Monday that while a lot of progress had been made, it was not yet nearly as much as is needed to drive down such a high rate of infection.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
Comments
0 comment