CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
Fury as meat factory bosses get workers’ test results first
DEADLY coronavirus has spread to healthcare workers like wildfire – accounting for one third of all cases in Ireland.
The rate of infection among our heroic frontline medics and support staff has hit a record high at 31.5%.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan revealed the figures when he appeared before the new Oireachtas coronavirus committee yesterday.
He said: “On healthcare workers, we have had a challenge. We have been honest and open about that.
“The figure is 31.5% as of yesterday – which is a high percentage.
“It should be borne in mind we have prioritised healthcare workers for testing and, unlike many countries, we have completed a significant testing programme in residential care facilities.
The staff in those settings were both tested and identified as positives and will be part of that figure.
“We have been proactive on this but there is no question that it has been a challenge.
“It reflects the fact healthcare workers are in the frontline. They are at risk of picking up this infection by virtue of the work they do.
“There is also the challenge of healthcare workers, when they are infected, are a source of potential infection both to the people they serve and the communities in which they live.
“That is a particular challenge and continuing cause for concern.
“There has been a substantial fall in the rate of infection among healthcare workers so while the number is high, the incidents have been dropping significantly in recent weeks.”
The panel also heard TDS from all parties express their alarm over the state in our nursing homes where nearly 60% of all coronavirus deaths have taken place.
Nursing Homes Ireland told all its members on March 4 to block all visitors entering facilities.
But on March 10, the Department of Health said there was no need for a visitors ban, before finally agreeing it was a good idea three days. Dr Holohan defended his decisions yesterday, saying he issued new guidelines as “new information became available”.
He said the new healthcare infection numbers are a cause for “continuing concern” but he was also hopeful as he said the number of incidents are
falling. Dr Holohan was the first witness before the powerful new committee, which also called Department of Health boss Jim Breslin and HSE chief Paul Reid for questioning.
It was also highlighted how a failure in testing led to one healthcare worker potentially infecting old people in a hospital because she was allowed to start a new job without being checked for coronavirus.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett told the committee colleagues how the woman feared she was contagious while asymptomatic.
He said she contacted him with her concerns she was sick at work without knowing it.
He wanted to know why she had not been tested before taking up a job to work in a healthcare environment. He added: “An agency nurse who was recruited by a Dublin hospital two weeks ago has tested positive for the coronavirus in the last few days.
“She was not tested when entering that hospital, where there are many elderly people. I do not understand this. “I would like to see the advice that was given by the expert advisory group in March about healthcare workers and I would like an explanation about why we have such a high infection rate among healthcare workers. How on earth can we have a situation where healthcare workers are coming in to work with vulnerable people two months into this crisis when we know there is a problem with healthcare workers’ infection rate.
“And they are not being tested before they start work with elderly people?
“We then discover it two weeks
later.”
Fine Gael’s Colm Brophy said it looks to him like the private health system in Ireland is defunct for now as private hospitals have now effectively been nationalised.
He said: “There is no logic in paying for private health insurance. There is even a questionable logic in continuing to pay for this year’s private health insurance.”
On healthcare workers we had a challenge. We have to be honest about that
DR TONY HOLOHAN OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE YESTERDAY