Doctor warns of a significant number of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients turning up in ICU
DUBLIN: A doctor has revealed that the vast majority of patients in Ireland’s intensive care units (ICUs) are unvaccinated.
Dr Catherine Motherway, a regular health advocate throughout the COVID-19 crisis, said that unvaccinated patients admitted in hospitals often have underlying conditions and get really sick, eventually ending up in ICU.
It comes as the Department of Health released latest COVID-19 figures. A total of 1,496 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Ireland on Tuesday. There are currently 248 COVID-19 patients in hospitals, 54 of whom are in the intensive care unit.
The number of reported deaths is now announced weekly. On August 11, 15 COVID-19 related deaths were confirmed in the country, bringing the death toll to 5,059.
Ms Motherway, a doctor at the University Hospital Limerick, said that there are still a significant number of unvaccinated people in Irish hospitals.
“They get respiratory failure. They get really sick. They have generally got underlying conditions, including obesity, heart disease and lung disease,” she said.
Dr Motherway reminded everyone to get the “lifesaving” COVID-19 vaccine to avoid getting underlying conditions.
Nationwide lockdown in New Zealand
Meanwhile, New Zealand has declared another nationwide lockdown after just one positive case of the coronavirus reported in the country.
On Tuesday, NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the lockdown will last seven days in Auckland, where the case was confirmed, and three days elsewhere.
Although not yet confirmed, health officials assume the single COVID-19 case detected is the Delta variant.
This is the first reported COVID-19 case in New Zealand since February 2021. The country has so far been able to prevent the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant.
The vast majority of New Zealand’s population has not yet been vaccinated. Only 22% of people over the age of 16 have received both doses of the vaccine.
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