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An average of seven patients a day contract Covid-19 while in state hospitals, according to new figures.
A total of 205 patients were infected with the virus at the hospital in the four weeks ending Nov. 8, according to figures compiled by the HSE.
This represents a sharp increase in hospital-acquired virus infections compared to previous months. A total of 299 cases of Covid-19 acquired in the hospital have been reported since June 21, when a new surveillance system was implemented to track these types of cases.
This equates to an average of about one in 1,000 hospitalized patients who received hospital-acquired Covid-19 during that period, the HSE says.
Hospitals have become the front line again during this second wave of virus cases, with large outbreaks reported in many settings.
Services have had to be curtailed at Letterkenny, Naas and Limerick hospitals due to staff becoming infected or having to stay home after being identified as close contacts.
Inpatient tests
Health workers account for about 700 of the 5,400 cases, or 13 percent, that have occurred in the last fortnight. The HSE recently ordered all hospitals to screen all hospitalized patients for the virus.
The Irish Times reported in July that 265 patients contracted Covid-19 while in hospital for other conditions, and at least 79 of these patients had died. This is separate from the more than 1,000 deaths of residents in nursing homes and other residential institutions that occurred during the pandemic.
The HSE was unable to provide an update on these figures this weekend. According to a spokeswoman, the new surveillance system for hospital-acquired infections does not collect information on patient outcomes.
This is because the information is presented weekly to ensure that the HSE has “a very timely view of the situation,” so the outcome for most patients is not known at that time.
In addition, says the spokeswoman, “determining the cause of death in each individual is complex.”
“While Covid-19 is clearly the leading cause of death for some people, in other people who were already very seriously ill, the contribution of the infection to their death can be difficult to determine.”
There were 31 Covid-19 patients in intensive care on Sunday, down from a peak during the current surge of 44 earlier this month. The number of hospitalized patients was 277, up from a peak of 354 at the end of October.
Positivity rate
The test’s positivity rate now stands at 3.3%, well below the 7.2% recorded in mid-October.
There were 34 Covid-19 patients at Limerick University Hospital on Saturday night and 32 at Letterkenny University Hospital, according to the latest HSE operational report. Six hospitals had no virus patients.
As of 8 a.m. Saturday, there were 607 free general beds in the hospital system, including 63 in intensive care. There were no free ICU beds at Letterkenny, Cavan, Galway, Castlebar, Ballinasloe and Tullamore hospitals.
Only Finland and Iceland have a lower incidence of Covid-19 than Ireland currently, according to the European Center for Disease Control.
The number of cases is stable or declining in Ireland and 14 other European countries. The death rate is stable or declining in Ireland and three other countries: Liechtenstein, the Czech Republic and Sweden.
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