Health service under ‘huge pressure’ as Covid cases surge

The health service is under “huge pressure” – with widespread disruption after a fresh surge in Covid cases, the HSE’s chief clinical officer has warned.

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. But as it has some new mutations, it means that people who were previously infected are liable and likely to get reinfected.

“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 Morning Ireland 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.”