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New nursing home visitation restrictions are being introduced in Dublin over the next three weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus cases due to increased infections in the county.
Nursing homes are being asked to reduce the number of visitors to one designated visitor per resident, down from the current number of four, to reduce resident contacts.
The Health Department has informed nursing homes that the measures will remain in effect for three weeks starting Sunday, September 13, and that the situation will remain under review.
The Health Protection Surveillance Center, which issues public health guidelines on behalf of the Health Services Executive, has been asked to update its visit guide accordingly.
The guide is intended for all long-term residential care facilities, including nursing homes.
The new rules are being introduced on the recommendation of the National State Public Health Emergencies Team (NPHET), which met this week to consider the largest number of cases in Dublin.
Massive nursing home testing to identify Covid-19 cases where people show no symptoms to prevent outbreaks will continue despite an increase in demand for testing from the greater number of people showing symptoms referred by doctors header.
Nursing homes are among the congregated settings most vulnerable to coronavirus disease, accounting for more than 55 percent of the 1,781 Covid-19 deaths in the state.
The latest figures on Covid-19 infections show that Dublin has the highest infection rate in the past 14 days per 100,000 people at 73.2, compared to the national average of 40.2.
The incidence rate within Dublin ranges from 36.7 per 100,000 in south Dublin to 93.8 per 100,000 in south east Dublin, according to the latest 14-day HPSC report on Covid-19.
The infection rate in Dublin is still less than half the level recorded in Kildare last month that led to the county’s closure after outbreaks at food and meat processing plants.
After Dublin, Limerick is the county with the highest incidence rate of the disease with 66.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Kildare with 61.6 per 100,000.
State health officials allowed nursing homes to reopen to two resident-named visitors on June 15 after a blanket three-month visitation ban during the worst of the pandemic.
In late July, the restrictions were again relaxed, allowing nursing home residents to have as many nominated visitors as they want, although visits were generally limited to two people at a time.
On August 20, NPHET limited visits to four nominated visitors per resident in response to rising infection rates.
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