COVID-19 CASES RISING IN HEALTHCARE STAFF

HEALTHCARE workers are contracting Covid-19 in gradually increasing numbers.

According to a report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre last Friday, 43 healthcare workers were infected in the week up to July 11.

This was almost twice the number who were infected with Covid-19 the previous week when there were 22 new cases in health workers.

Of the most recent cases, seven of the 43 new infections were linked to nursing homes and one to a long-stay facility, according to the HPSC report.

One healthcare worker picked it up in a restaurant/ cafe. Thirty-three of the new cases were listed as “not linked to an outbreak”.

Eleven of those who caught it were nurses, and 15 were healthcare assistants. The others worked across the sector.

Of the previous week’s cases, infections of six of the 22 healthcare workers were linked to nursing homes and 16 were listed as not linked to an outbreak.

When officials began monitoring infections in healthcare workers in June, the first weekly bulletin — dated June 15 — recorded 16 new cases.

The HSE embarked on a testing programme for healthcare workers in nursing homes and long-stay residential centres. But that does not explain why these small but significant numbers are still contracting Covid-19.

Seven healthcare workers have died of Covid-19 and they account for 32pc of all confirmed cases in the country.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and Siptu have campaigned for closer monitoring for healthcare staff.

The INMO claimed that Ireland has the highest rate of infection of health workers globally.