HSE warns hospital wards may have to close as the Covid cases are continue to rise sharply

Dublin: The HSE warned that if the Corona virus is severely overgrown, hospital wards may have to close.

HSE chief Paul Reid said people should take the current restrictions very seriously or the country needs a complete lockdown again.

As many as 80 people have been admitted to hospitals till Friday. Of these, 14 are in the ICU.

If the number of Covid cases continues to rise, more stringent restrictions will have to be put in place, Reid told the RTE.

The situation in the hospitals is currently under control but may not be so in the coming days. As the number of Covid patients rises, the hospital system will come under great pressure. With this, wards and beds will have to be taken over more, he says.

Earlier this week, NPHET warned that covid deaths and the number of patients admitted to hospital will rise.

Philip Nolan, chairman of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said covid cases were on the rise in the elderly and that this would create a dangerous situation.

Over the past two weeks, 10% of those confirmed by Covid in Ireland have been over 65 years of age. There are also concerns that this may raise Covid death rate.

At the same time, Emergency Medicine Consultant Dr. Fergal Hickey warned the government that HSE urgently needed to address the lack of intensive care beds in hospitals.

He says there was a shortage of intensive care beds in the healthcare sector even before the Covid crisis. The health executive has to take this issue very seriously and more beds should be set up soon, he added.

Other arrangements should be made immediately in hospitals as the number of Covid patients increases.

Covid prevalence in older people is extremely serious. As the elderly become weaker, they need better care and treatment, Fergal Hickey clarified.