More than 500 Covid-19 patients receiving intensive care in Irish hospitals

THERE HAS BEEN a slight reduction in the number of Covid-19 patients in Irish hospitals, yet more than 500 people are receiving intensive care.

According to the latest HSE figures, 1,367 people with Covid-19 are hospitalized.

There are 205 patients in the ICU and another 301 receiving critical care outside the ICU.

HSE CEO Paul Reid said this morning on Twitter: “We remain at high risk.”

He added that consultants report that patients are being treated in ICU for longer periods.

Reid encourages people to continue to observe public health guidelines, saying, “Please continue to help our hospitals recover.”

Last night, Cork University Hospital and Waterford University Hospital had the highest number of Covid-19 patients – 96 patients each. St Vincent University Hospital in Dublin is treating 94 Covid patients.

Overall, hospitals have 38 adult intensive care beds available, but 11 hospitals do not have free intensive care beds.

Public health officials confirmed another 897 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland yesterday.

Additionally, 101 more people have died from the virus. Of these deaths, 83 occurred in January and 18 in February.

The latest update from the Department of Health brings the total number of cases to 198,424 and the number of people who have died to 3,418.