The number of outbreaks of Covid-19 in private houses has almost doubled in the space of a week and some hospitals have no intensive care beds available, new figures show.
The number of people who have confirmed cases of coronavirus in ICU beds stayed below 100 for a third day on Sunday but HSE figures show some hospitals have no availability or little availability of such beds needed for the most serious cases of the disease.
There were 125 outbreaks of the disease reported in private houses up to last Friday, according to the latest epidemiological data from the Health Service Executive. This compares to 68 a week earlier.
The number of patients in ICUs with #Covid19 has fallen to 93. Lowest in over a month. Numbers go up & down but trend is encouraging. But, it is fragile & we could see progress reversed if we don’t all follow public health advice so please keep at it. Let’s finish the job pic.twitter.com/8bEnoaHJ8I
— Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) May 4, 2020
The largest single location for outbreaks remains nursing homes, where the number of clusters of the disease increased from 197 to 222 over the same period.
A Covid-19 cluster is defined by the HSE as two or more cases. An outbreak of Covid-19 is defined by the HSE as two or more cases of the virus acquired within the same residential unit, or one confirmed case acquired in the unit in addition to other probable cases awaiting test results.
In residential institutions, there has also been a substantial increase in outbreaks, from 110 to 130.
Hospitals continue to see further clusters reported - this figure increased from 79 to 87 over the week - and 34 workplaces had reported outbreaks up to last Friday, up from 23 a week earlier.
A total of 694 clusters have been reported, including 15 in extended families, according to the report by the HSE's Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
A total of 6,068 healthcare workers have contracted the virus, most of them in the east of the country.
Covid-19 has claimed the lives of two people in the 15-24 age bracket, four among 25-34 year-olds and nine people aged between 35 and 44 years.
Cavan remains the county with the highest incidence of coronavirus, with 883.5 cases per 100,000 of population, followed by Dublin with an incidence of 772.3 and Monaghan, where the incidence is 666.3.
Of the 21,064 laboratory confirmed Covid-19 cases reported by Friday, 1,074 have died, giving a case fatality rate of 5.1 per cent. Of the patients who were hospitalised, 13 per cent were admitted to ICU.
‘Encouraging’
There were fewer than 100 people in intensive care units with confirmed coronavirus last night, the third day in a row, Health Service Executive (HSE) data also shows.
The HSE's daily operations update released last night shows 93 people were in these units across the country and a further 20 people with suspected cases of Covid-19 were being treated in intensive care.
The equivalent figures were 98 and 22 on Saturday night, 99 and 21 on Friday and 105 and 18 the day before, meaning the number of confirmed cases in intensive care is below 100 for the third day running and the lowest in more than a month.
A total of 143 intensive care beds were available last night up from 131 on Saturday. However, there were no vacant ICU beds in Tullamore, Portiuncula, Portlaoise, Mater and Kerry hospitals as of 8pm last night, while Connolly and St Vincent’s hospitals in Dublin had only one spare ICU bed each. The hospital with the greatest availability of ICU beds was St James’s in Dublin which had 17 available last night.
As of 8pm on Sunday there were 906 cases or suspected cases of Covid-19 in the Republic’s acute hospitals, compared to 953 at the same time on Saturday night and 1,010 on Friday night.
Reacting to these figures, Minister for Health Simon Harris said the trend was “encouraging”.
“But, it is fragile & we could see progress reversed if we don’t all follow public health advice so please keep at it. Let’s finish the job,” he added on Twitter.
“I am also conscious that 93 is not just a number or a daily stat - it represents 93 people who are seriously ill with this awful virus & 93 worried families. We think of them all today & of the incredible frontline staff who care for them”.
A total of 60 confirmed cases and five suspected cases on Sunday night were being ventilated, the data shows, down from 67 and 10 on Saturday.
A further 19 people diagnosed with Covid-19 have died, the National Public Health Emergency Team disclosed on Sunday. There have now been 1,303 deaths associated with the disease in Ireland, it said.
The HSE data also show Dublin's Mater hospital has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with 92 patients as of 8pm on Sunday night, followed by St James's (74), Tallaght (68), Beaumont (67) and St Vincent's (64). The highest number of confirmed cases in a hospital outside Dublin is in Limerick where there are 46 patients.
‘Too early’
HSE chief executive Paul Reid said on Sunday said the trend shown by recent data was positive "but it's far too early to make any judgements".
He added people were beginning to return to GPs for general care, having previously expressed a fear of infection, but HSE officials warned they expected to see “considerably more’ outbreaks in disability and mental health residential units. The number of nursing homes where outbreaks are “of particular concern” has risen from 75 to 90 in a week.
Plans are also being drawn up to treat thousands of patients not infected by Covid-19 as the health service attempts to play catch-up after two months in which normal services were shut down.
The move comes as one senior doctor warned of an “apocalyptic” surge in hospital waiting lists over the coming months as the profession struggles to perform operations while keeping patients apart to stem the spread of coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Mr Reid has said the HSE will be able to carry out 100,00 tests a week with a turnaround for results of three days by May 18th, the day Ireland begins easing lockdown restrictions.
Ireland’s testing regime has been dogged by delays in getting tests and the return of test results and the criteria for testing have changed a number of times.
Efficient testing and contact tracing are seen as crucial in the country’s effort to emerge from the severe restrictions on society in the absence of a treatment or vaccine for Covid-19.
