Tag Archives: Dr Mai Mannix

THE staff at the Department of Public Health Mid-West (Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary) are to be awarded an HSE Excellence Award for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020. Public Health Mid-West, which monitors and manages all emerging health risks and infectious diseases in the community for nearly 400,000 people in Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary, was one of 11 Public Health departments to receive this award, this Monday. Since March 2020, Public Health Mid-West has monitored and intervened in thousands of Covid-19 outbreaks, has charted the disease through surveillance of data and trends and contact tracing of complex situations, offered clinical advice to key priority settings, and frequently updated the public on evolving trends through enhanced communications. The HSE’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dr Colm Henry presented the 11 awards today to all regional Public Health departments, the National Immunisation Office, the Health Surveillance Protection Centre, and the Office of National Clinical Director Health Protection, via virtual …

WITH Clare having recorded the second highest incidence rate of Covid-19 in Ireland over the Christmas period health authorities are appealing to the public to take care over social activity. The Department of Public Health Mid-West has said preliminary analysis indicates at least 2,300 new cases in the Mid-West region per day. The department added that the current high volume of cases may result in delays in data reporting, meaning that data may not be complete and up-to-date. Therefore, it is probable the real infection rate is higher due to the unprecedented levels of transmission across the three counties and nationwide. A spokesperson stated, “In recent weeks, we were notified of an outbreak of more than 80 people (age ranged from early 20s to late 30s) in a single community in the Mid-West. “Transmission occurred over a three-week period and involved multiple sources of exposure (e.g. social contact, household contact, education setting, workplace setting, etc). We believe outbreaks of this …

A SENIOR intensive care clinician has warned health services are on a “war time” footing due to increasing cases of Covid-19. The head of the intensive care unit at University Hospital Limerick, Dr Catherine Motherway, has also stated some healthcare services will have to shut down, if Covid-19 figures continue to rise. Her warning came before official figures revealed the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Mid-West totalled 5,381 from November 9 to November 22. There were 1,361 new cases of the virus in Clare, 1,975 in Tipperary and 2,045 in Limerick during this 14-day period. The 14-day incidence for November 22 is 1,145 in Clare 1,237 in Tipperary and 1,049 in Limerick per 100,000 population. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland earlier this week, Dr Motherway said that healthcare staff are “stretched and operating on a day-to-day basis” and noted that patients may not receive the same level of care as they would “in peace time”. She also revealed …

CLARE people have been urged to limit their social activity following a dramatic rise in confirmed Covid-19 cases in recent weeks. Public Health Mid-West are advising people in Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary to limit social activity in order to reduce the level of Covid-19 in the community. Infection rates have doubled in the region in recent weeks, which is similar to January levels. Unlike the January wave, the Department of Public Health are seeing a lower incidence of illness and death thanks to the successful vaccination programme to date. However, due to the sharp escalation in new cases in recent weeks, breakthrough infections with serious outcomes are more likely to occur. The department continue to encourage everyone to register for a free Covid-19 vaccine, to avail of a second dose if they have not already done so, and if eligible to avail of the booster vaccine when they receive their text message from the HSE. On November 8, there …

CLARE people are being urged to continue following public health guidelines to minimise the spread of Covid-19 as acute hospitals in the region struggle to cope with the severe impact of the cyber attack on HSE information technology systems. The UL Hospitals’ Group has confirmed the number of Covid-19 positve patients admitted to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) has increased from two to 14 from May 13 to May 20. While the group stressed these figures should be interpreted with a large degree of caution, their clinicians are reporting an increase in Covid-19 related activity presenting to the ED at a time when the department, and all acute hospital services, are facing massive disruption as a result of last week’s cyber attack. The group continue to follow all national guidance on Covid-19 testing and we continue to take all the necessary infection control precautions. Separate Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 pathways remain in place for all patients attending the ED. The effects of …

THE Mid-West Public Health Department has warned about the risks posed for the spread of Covid-19 as a result of social mixing among multiple households. The warning was issued this week as it investigates more than 55 household situations, involving at least two cases each, across the Mid-West region since March 1. These “situations” are in households where a more in-depth public health risk assessment has been undertaken because of either having a suspected or confirmed outbreak. The department has provided an example of a complex community outbreak of more than 20 cases, occurring as a direct result of social mixing among multiple households, which occurred in the Mid-West region in recent months. Each household was exposed to other settings, including workplaces and extended families, resulting in further spread of infection outside the household. One household cluster was linked to a workplace outbreak of more than five cases, which then spread to the household of a staff member, resulting in …

AS the number of Covid-19 cases in Clare climbs to a total of almost 4,500, the Mid-West Public Health Department has warned single cases of the B117 strain have resulted in whole household outbreaks. While the 14-day incidence of the virus in the Banner has fallen from 322% last week to 144% this week, the HSE is expressing concern about a pattern of household clusters. A HSE spokesman warned the new variant seems to be more transmissible with higher numbers of infections from each new case. The 14-day incidence in Clare is now the fourth lowest in the country just above Tipperary, which stands at 147% and much lower than Limerick’s 252%. According to figures produced by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, there were 172 new cases of Covid-19 in Clare, 492 in Limerick and 225 in Tipperary from Februar 2 to February 15. The five-day moving average from January 19 to February 11 to February 15 is 36 in …

CLARE people have been asked to continue strictly adhering to public health guidelines combating the spread of Covid-19, despite a major drop in the 14-day incidence of the virus throughout the Mid-West. This come as official statistics show the 14-day incidence of the virus in the Banner has fallen recently from 1,386% to 536%. Interestingly, the 14-day incidence rate in Tipperary at 559% is now higher than Clare, but is much lower than Limerick, which stands at 781%. According to figures produced by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, there were 1,647 new cases of Covid-19 in Clare, 3,325 in Limerick and 1,558 in Tipperary from January 12 to January 25. The five-day moving average from January 21 to 25 is 62 in Limerick, 25 in Clare and 44 in Tipperary. The Department of Public Health Mid-West and HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare are urging people in the Mid-West to not get distracted by the gradual decrease in Covid-19 cases, and to …