LATEST: Over 23,000 new cases of virus as HSE admits hospitals ‘really struggling’
A further 23,125 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed today as the latest surge in infections heaps unprecedented pressure on hospitals, including St Luke’s in Kilkenny.
The Department of Health this evening said it has been notified of 8,910 PCR-confirmed cases of Covid-19, as well as 14,215 positive antigen tests logged through the HSE portal.
As of 8am, there were 1,425 Covid patients in hospital, up 30 on the same time yesterday. Of these, 53 patients were being treated in ICU, a drop of two.
The latest figues come after HSE Chief Operations Officer Anne O’Connor earlier admitted the health service is “really struggling” due to the latest surge in Covid-19 cases,
“Whether it’s in our hospitals, our community services, our national ambulance service, we are really struggling in terms of the level of Covid across services and across our staff,” she told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland .
Ms O’Connor said around half of those currently in hospital have been admitted to hospital due to Covid-19.
