A third of all nursing homes now have viruses as “catastrophe” expert warns



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Almost a third of nursing homes in Ireland have the Covid-19 virus, said the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).

Mary Dunnion, Hiqa’s chief social services inspector, told RTÉ that Morning Ireland staff is a real problem for nursing home providers and that faster tests would be beneficial.

According to the Executive of the Health Service, the number of outbreaks of Covid-19 in nursing homes increased to 155, four more than the previous day.

The number of outbreaks in residential institutions and community hospitals / long-stay units has not changed, at 58 and 23 respectively, according to the daily report from the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Center.

Ms. Dunnion said that staff at centers with the virus should isolate themselves until it is confirmed that they have the virus or not. If they could be diagnosed faster, they could return to work, where they meet their patients, he said.

“This is a pandemic, it is unprecedented. Covid-19 is in the community, and nursing homes are in the community, and this vulnerable group has contracted it. ”

Ms. Dunnion confirmed that patients are being transferred from nursing homes to hospitals, but “this is not possible in all cases.”

“Every morning we identify centers that need support,” and this information is “escalated” to HSE, he said.

“We are all learning, and there will be important lessons to be learned once this is all over,” Bunnion said.

‘Catastrophe’

Meanwhile, Professor Jack Lambert, professor of infectious diseases at Mater and Rotunda Hospitals, said the spread of Covid-19 in nursing homes is “a fledgling catastrophe” and that underutilized staff should be sent to “all homes of the elderly. ” In Ireland”.

He told RTÉ Today with Séan O’Rourke show that nursing homes should be a priority.

He said there was a lack of thought about what to do to avoid being in the same situation as Italy and Spain.

The preparations should have been in place; instead, nursing homes were told they were responsible for making their own plans, Professor Lambert said.

That was “a major disaster” that has led to more than 200 groups in nursing homes, he said.

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