The majority of Covid positive inpatients at University Hospital Waterford are fully vaccinated.
Speaking on WLR this morning, General Manager of the hospital Grace Rothwell said that of the 24 inpatients on the Pine Ward yesterday (Monday), 18 were fully vaccinated.
The rise in the number of covid patients on site in the past week has been described by Ms Rothwell as significant.
Currently, (Tuesday morning) there are 33 patients described as on a 'covid pathway', this means they are either confirmed to have the virus or awaiting a swab result.
Of those, two patients are being treated in ICU.
General Manager at UHW Grace Rothwell said the sizable increase was a concern;
"We now pretty much have a ward that is full of COVID positive or COVID pending patients. So 21 in the house this morning, two of which are in ICU and we have five inpatients awaiting swab results. So total on pathway then is 33. So it's a sizeable workload. It had been as low probably as, you know, three or four up to six or seven positives, but this is a significant increase now that has really happened over the last seven days."
Vaccination Rate
It was confirmed by the HSE to WLR News yesterday that 99.9% of adults in Waterford are now fully vaccinated against the virus.
Despite this, the county has the highest incidence rate in the county. According to the latest data this morning, Waterford's 14 day incidence rate is now 944 per 100 thousand people.
The second highest county is Longford at 883.
This has led to many questioning the efficacy of vaccines. Ms Rothwell said she wasn't a clinician but gave her understanding of the situation:
"The fact that even though there's 92% of the adult population vaccinated (nationally), they're saying that the total population isn't as yet - 85% vaccinated - and that the volume of those vaccinated coupled with the remaining public health measures still hasn't actually in effect, eliminated the virus, so it's still spreading."
In the meantime, staff at University Hospital are experiencing 'relentless pressure'.
Emergency department presentations have risen significantly, especially at weekends.
In 2019, 120-130 could be expected on a Saturday, now it's at 170, while on Sunday it's up from 100-110 to 150.
Grace Rothwell said staff at University Hospital are experiencing 'relentless pressure':
"We are really challenged and emergency department presentations have been exceptionally high. They're higher now than they were in 2019. We 209 through the door yesterday, and we're averaging probably over 203 of seven days of the week now, which, which is considerable.
She added that the current situation was 'very concerning' for two reasons:
"From my perspective, one is the relentless pressure that has been on hospital staff and hospital staff are exhausted and have had really no break, no breather. And really, I suppose it doesn't bode well as we head into winter months with an exhausted workforce. And again, COVID numbers on the rise, you know, and the system that was really trying to, in some respects address waiting lists and have a functional emergency department, we are really challenged."
Hospital restrictions
As a result of the current situation, some schedule procedures have been cancelled. However, there has not been a covid mortality in months.
The hospital never stood down all the initial covid restrictions that were put in place, so many of those remain, including visiting restrictions, which will remain in place for the foreseeable future, but exceptions will be made depending on the circumstances.
