[ad_1]
The hospital under investigation for a large number of cases that were only reported yesterday to the Health Protection Surveillance Center is Mater Hospital in Dublin.
The number of cases in question is 244.
A spokesman for the Health Service Executive said it was not yet in a position to confirm whether or not the hospital reported the cases.
He said he was currently under review with the Eastern Ireland Hospital Group and Mater Hospital.
It occurs when Health Minister Simon Harris is awaiting a full report today from the HSE on the hospital’s overall report of Covid-19 cases yesterday.
Speaking before a meeting with cabinet ministers this morning, Harris said he was unable to give the name or location of the hospital in question at the time.
He said the rules on reporting infectious diseases, of which Covid-19 is one, are “very clear” and described the reporting of cases dating from mid-March as “extremely disappointing.”
On whether or not it is a criminal matter, the minister said that “that must also be verified.”
“It is absolutely clear that there is a legal requirement to disclose. The legislation is very clear on who the burden of reporting falls on, and I think it is very disappointing that this has happened,” he said.
The minister acknowledged that people are working extremely hard in hospitals and laboratories, but that there is a reason why we have this reporting requirement.
Harris said he will also seek assurances from HSE that there are systems in place to ensure that this does not happen again.
The minister said he hoped to have more information on the circumstances of this case and that he could comment on it later today.
Read:
The latest coronavirus stories
Yesterday, 426 cases of Covid-19 were reported by the Department of Health.
Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan said the 426 cases seemed like a significant increase in recent trends.
However, he said that a large number of the cases were from a hospital, occurred over a period of time and were reported in a group yesterday.
Dr. Holohan said, “There has been a report of a large number of cases that accumulated over a period of time diagnosed with respect to a specific hospital and reported by that hospital’s occupational health department.”
He said the cases involved date back to mid-March.
“They accumulated, we were not aware of them, and it was reported in a group today to add to the number that we would have diagnosed over the course of the day,” he added.
Dr. Holohan said the number seen by health officials is still in line with what would have been anticipated based on the reproductive number and patterns seen in recent days.
Yesterday, the Health Department said that ten other people with Covid-19 had died, bringing the total to 1,506.
The number of cases of the virus is 23,827.
About 80% of Covid-19 cases will be mild to moderate disease, about 14% have severe disease, and about 6% are critical.
In general, you should be 15 minutes or closer to and less than 2 meters from an infected person to be considered at risk or close contact.
Additional reports Laura Hogan
[ad_2]