JUST 37 ICU BEDS LEFT
‘Numbers haven’t peaked yet’ warns senior advisor ■ Patients with virus double 2020 high by next week ■ 6,888 cases yesterday
THE number of intensive care beds left in the country was down to 37 yesterday, as another 6,888 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed.
The startling figure was revealed as a leading State medical adviser warned that the numbers with the virus have ‘not peaked yet’.
With 1,452 coronavirus patients in hospital and 125 of those is ICUs, HSE chief Paul Reid said: ‘Early this week we will likely be at double what we had in the peak of last year, which was 881.’ He added: ‘Our concern is the rising trend.’
Chief Clinical Officer at the health executive, Dr Colm Henry, warned: ‘It hasn’t peaked yet in our view. Those who are sick in hospital now or in intensive care, they acquired the illness two weeks
ago. In some ways what is happening in the next two weeks has already been determined.
‘We can’t change what has already happened. We can’t change those illnesses that are going to come into hospitals in the next two weeks but every one of us has the power to reduce additional burden on those cases, and to keep people alive to get the vaccine.’
Dr Henry said that there is still capacity in the acute hospital system as well as the ICU system, but their f ear i s not what is happening today but ‘what will happen if these continue to rise’.
He said: ‘Our worry is in the next seven to ten days, you will see a further rise in these figures and quite severe pressure on our acute hospital system… Our staff are under huge pressure.
‘I know people are worried and I want to assure people our teams, tired as they are, will continue to give care, the best care they can. There’s still capacity in our acute system if you’re sick and need hospitalisation,’ he said.
He added that their message is for everybody to stay at home.
‘You’re not the best judges as to whether you’re carrying the virus or not, you don’t know. But we do know that the only way it will transmit is if people meet up and get into close contact,’ he said.
‘The actions you take now will prevent any additional burden to the already quite scary projections
‘Quite scary projections’
we’re looking at over the next two weeks,’ Dr Henry said.
However, there was more hope on the vaccine front.
Mr Reid said that between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and the still-to-be approved vaccine from AstraZeneca, the HSE could be taking delivery of as many as a million doses a month by early summer at the latest.
He said they would exceed their goal of 35,000 doses administered by the end of last week.
From today, the vaccination programme’s sweep of nursing home residents and staff will begin fully. He said: ‘We have accelerated the most vulnerable groups which are elderly people i n nursing homes, and they will be completed now over next two weeks, instead of the next three. We will meet supply with vaccinations.
‘What we know is that the delivery of 40,000 per week from Pfizer/ BioNTech, that will continue towards the end of February. Secondly, the Moderna, which has been approved, we have committed 110,000 of those in the first quarter of this year.
‘We expect to see those arrive shortly, they will be in smaller numbers at the start.’
Mr Reid said the ‘game-changer’ would be the AstraZeneca vaccine, as it is easier to transport and the logistics are not as difficult as the other two, but it has yet to be approved by the European Medicines Agency.
He said a deal was agreed over the weekend with all the private hospital groups, with the exception of the Beacon, to provide additional support to the HSE.
And they are already utilising some of that support. Mr Reid added: ‘The triggers that we would call into surge are actually in effect now.
‘It would be a surge of up to about 30% of bed utilisation, which gives us, in essence working with private hospitals, over 600 beds.
‘We are actually calling on that right now. Private hospitals are taking some urgent non- Covid care and supporting us.
‘We’ve activated a lot of support already through cancer- care, cardio- care, that the private hospitals are working with us on.’
Mr Reid said that the actions people take today are what will help the health service in the coming days and weeks. The Department of Health reported an additional 6,888 cases of Covid-19 with a further eight deaths. This brings the total number of cases and to 147,613 and 2,344 deaths.
As of yesterday lunchtime, there were 1,452 Covid-19 patients in hospital of which 125 were in intensive care units. There were 100 admissions to hospital in the previous 24 hours. During the first wave, the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital peaked at 881 on April 15 while the number of people with Covid-19 in ICUs peaked at 155.
Mr Reid explained: ‘Early this week we will likely be at double what we had in the peak of last year, which was 881 in the first phase of this.
‘Our concern is the numbers, our concern i s the rising trend.’
He added that as of yesterday) morning there were only 37 vacant adult ICU beds.
‘New vaccine will be game changer’