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A hospital failed to notify health authorities of nearly 300 coronavirus cases within legal deadlines.
All cases, some of which date from mid-March, were reported yesterday to the Health Protection Surveillance Center.
And that resulted in the daily count of confirmed Covid-19 cases announced that they were significantly higher than in the past few days.
The chief physician, Dr. Tony Holohan, emphasized that the 426 cases reported yesterday were not evidence of a “new wave” of infection, and insisted that nearly 300 were related to the hospital’s batch of unreported test results.
However, Labor Party leader Alan Kelly said: “We need a full explanation of what happened here, why this only came out now, and an audit of all hospitals and health centers is needed to ensure there is no other instances. “
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.
Ten other Covid-19-related deaths were also announced yesterday, bringing the death toll to 1,506. Dr. Holohan said that the unreported batch, and the distribution of those cases in the past two months, gave no reason to alter any conclusions about the spread of the virus across the country.
But he added: “It is not me who says it is okay. We want to encourage appropriate reporting and timely and comprehensive reporting, a high level of compilation of all key information regarding all cases and to be informed of the in the most timely way possible. ‘He said it had been happening in the country “for the most part.”
He noted that the requirement to notify authorities about infectious diseases was in legislation dating back to 1947. “The vast majority of hospitals have taken responsible and legally binding action to report these cases,” he added.
But it was not the time to talk about the “consequences” for those responsible for the delayed reports, he said, insisting that it was more important to establish the facts and make sure it would not happen again.
He could not be sure that the required contact follow-up had been carried out for cases that had tested positive at the hospital.
“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. The Cabinet will meet today to discuss whether to proceed to Phase One of the closure exit plan 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. Earlier yesterday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the government is “increasingly confident” that Ireland will be able to move to Phase One on Monday.
‘This virus is a retreating fire. We must quench every spark and kill every ember, “he said.
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