INMO says majority of victims in new cases of COVID-19 are nurses

DUBLIN: Although the health workers suffered the most from the pandemic, most of the patients were nurses, the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (INMO) said. Data compiled by INMO reveals that 3% of all new COVID-19 cases in Ireland are nurses.

In the most recent week, 61 nurses were infected with the virus. Of the 2,002 new virus cases in Ireland during the week from November 29 to December 5, 303 were confirmed in health workers. This represents 15% of the total cases, according to the INMO.

Since the outbreak in March, health care workers accounted for 16.5% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ireland. The virus infection has been diagnosed among 3,700 nurses.

INMO has put forward a number of demands, including that the isolation period should be equivalent to that of the general public to combat the spread of the disease among health care workers. The isolation period is currently seven days for health workers and 14 days for the general public.