Stephen Donnelly has issued a grim update on the possibility of winter restrictions amid a “significant” rise in Covid cases.
The Health Minister was speaking as he brought a memo to the Government outlining what steps will be taken if there’s another Covid wave this winter.
He said he brought the memo to Cabinet with advice from Chief Medical Officer Professor Breda Smyth.
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It notes that face coverings could become mandatory again in certain settings.
The memo says that, if required, the introduction of mask mandates in certain settings like transport and healthcare will involve "a point-in-time assessment of indicators”, saying this will require "due consideration of the personal, ethical, and public health perspectives”, RTE reports.
He was speaking amid concern about a “significant” rise in the number of people in hospital with Covid.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Minister Donnelly said the Government “hopes things will remain calm” over the winter.
He said: “Obviously we hope things can remain relatively calm with Covid, but we can’t plan on that basis. We’ve seen a very significant increase in Covid hospitalisations over the last week. Now only 40% of them are in hospital because of Covid, however everyone who is in hospital with Covid, they need to be cared for obviously, but there are also knock on effects because of infection prevention control measures. So for every person we have in a hospital bed with Covid, there’s a knock on effect on other beds and other parts of the hospital that need to not work at full capacity for infection prevention control reasons.
“So really, the conversation I’ll be having with Cabinet this morning is around, we know were facing into a very difficult winter, we know it’s going to be very difficult for patients, we know it’s going to be difficult for our healthcare professionals right across the country. We’ve a big investment, big recruitment around emergency departments, and an ongoing focus through the autumn and the winter on Covid and living with Covid.”
It comes as Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said that while Covid cases are rising, the Government “would expect to be able to manage without new restrictions”.
More than 1.6 million positive Covid cases have been confirmed in Ireland over the last two weeks.
There are currently 474 confirmed Covid cases in hospitals, of which 13 are in ICU.
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