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THE HSE CEO should tell the Oireachtas Health Committee that all of the Covid-19 leading indicators are now trending down, but Ireland is “not out of the woods yet.”
In his opening statement, Paul Reid will tell the committee: “We are coming out of a very challenging period, although we are not out of the woods yet.
“While we know it has been extremely difficult for everyone, we ask the public to stay with us for the next several weeks and continue to follow public health guidelines to help suppress the spread of the virus.
“The virus and its impacts on society remain largely unpredictable and as such the need for proactive monitoring and agile planning will always be a feature of our response.”
Reid will also claim that although all the main indicators of the virus are now trending downward, health officials “remain vigilant to the impact of new variants of Covid 19”.
Another 437 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Ireland, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) said last night.
In a statement, NPHET also confirmed that there were no new deaths of people with Covid-19.
The death toll from Covid-19 in Ireland is now 4,422, and the total number of confirmed cases of the virus is 223,651.
The 14-day incidence rate is now 172.3 per 100,000, up from nearly 1,500 in mid-January.
Reid must tell the committee that health care staff are still managing 358 outbreaks in acute hospitals and long-term residential care settings, but the number of new outbreaks is decreasing.
As of yesterday, 419 people with Covid-19 were in Irish hospitals, including 103 people in ICU.
Reid is expected to note that while the numbers are shrinking, “these numbers are still very high in the context of our experience with this disease and compared to other health conditions.”
It will claim that health services that were stopped due to the pandemic will be gradually restarted, but HSE staff “are still in the midst of responding to the unprecedented rise in Covid-19.”
Vaccines
Reid will also give the committee an update on Ireland’s vaccination program.
As of March 5, 513,322 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered in Ireland: 363,601 first doses and 149,721 second doses.
Reid is expected to note that HSE will continue to “develop adequate capacity to deliver 250,000 vaccines per week, subject to supply.”
To date, 37 HSE vaccination centers have been agreed and the necessary infrastructure is being finalized. To date, more than 2,000 recruitment applications have been received and 9,702 additional healthcare professionals have completed Covid-19 vaccination training.
Speaking at yesterday’s NPHET briefing, Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Medical Director of the Department of Health, said that people’s hope that things are getting better is “justified in the context of continuous improvement in indicators. key of the disease and with the ongoing implementation of the vaccination program during the next weeks ”.
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“However, it is vital that this hope does not give way to complacency; In Europe, countries are deteriorating and the incidence of our own disease remains high. We must do everything we can to continue to suppress this virus and ensure that as many people as possible benefit from vaccination in the coming months, “added Glynn. .
Speaking before the meeting, committee chairman Seán Crowe noted that Reid’s appearance “coincides with confirmation that vaccination of people with serious illnesses should begin this week.”
“But many questions remain to be answered in relation to this stage of the program. Who exactly will qualify for vaccination in this part of the rollout, what criteria are being used to identify those most at risk, and how those who qualify will be contacted, among the questions that need to be answered, ”said Crowe.
Reid is due to appear before the committee today at 9.45 am, along with Dr. Colm Henry, Clinical Director; Niamh O’Beirne, National Director of Testing and Tracing; Dr. Lorraine Doherty, Head of the National Health Protection Clinic; and Damien McCallion, national director of vaccination against Covid-19.
The meeting can be viewed here.
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