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An Irish hospital failed to notify health authorities of nearly 300 coronavirus cases within legal deadlines.
All the cases, some of which date from mid-March, were reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Center in one sitting last night.
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The result was that the daily count of confirmed Covid-19 cases announced yesterday was significantly higher than in the past few days.
Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan emphasized that the 426 cases were not evidence of a “new wave” of infection, and insisted that nearly 300 were related to the hospital’s unreported batch of test results.
Dr. Holohan, who did not name the hospital, said at the Covid-19 daily briefing that investigations were underway to determine what had gone wrong and to make sure it had not happened at any other hospital.
The total number of confirmed cases increased to 23,827 after the 426 were added.
An additional 10 Covid-19-related deaths were also announced Thursday, bringing Ireland’s death toll to 1,506.
LOT NOT REPORTED
Dr. Holohan said that the unreported batch, and the distribution of those cases in the past two months, gave no reason to alter existing conclusions about the spread of the virus across the country.
But he added: “That is not me saying that this is fine.
“We want to encourage appropriate reporting and timely and comprehensive reporting, a high level of collection of all key information regarding all cases, and that we are informed in the most timely manner possible.”
He said that had been happening in the country “for the most part.”
“We have an example here maybe where that didn’t happen,” he said.
“It does not lead us to change our conclusions in general terms.”
NO TIME TO TALK ‘CONSEQUENCES’
He noted that the requirement to notify authorities about infectious diseases was in legislation dating from 1947.
“The vast majority of hospitals have taken responsible and legally binding action to report these cases,” he added.
The CMO said it was not the time to talk about “consequences” for those responsible for the delay in reporting, and insisted that it was more important to establish the facts and ensure that it would not happen again.
He said he could not be sure that the required contact follow-up had been carried out for the cases that tested positive at the hospital, but expressed the hope that it had been done.
“I would like to think that the necessary follow-up of contacts in the hospital environment by the occupational health teams could have been carried out, but I do not know this as a fact,” he said.
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The Cabinet will meet later today to discuss whether to continue phase one of Ireland’s closure exit plan as scheduled for Monday.
The ministers will consider the council of the National Public Health Emergency Team, which met yesterday to finalize its recommendation.
Dr. Holohan, who chairs the NPHET, declined to indicate what recommendation the team had made to the cabinet during yesterday night’s briefing.
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