Robert Besser
25 Jan 2023, 04:36 GMT+10
DUBLIN, Ireland: The shortage of available hospital beds throughout Ireland has greatly eased as Covid admissions have fallen by two-thirds since December.
As of January 22, according to officials, there were 237 patients in hospital with Covid-19.
This would be the lowest figure since last September, and only one-third of the numbers of Covid patients in hospitals in late December.
Significantly, only 21 of these patients were in intensive care, which is the lowest number in a month.
Officials point to the overall drop in new Covid cases, as the seven-day positivity rate for PCR test has fallen to 10.2 per cent, which the is the lowest rate recorded since October 2021.
Besides a drop in Covid, the number of flu and respiratory patients has also fallen, according to hospitals.
As of January 22, there were 237 patients waiting for beds in the nation's hospitals, according to the Health Service Executive's TrolleyGar count, compared to 389 one week earlier. This is also an 80 percent reduction in patients waiting for beds from one year earlier.
Letterkenny University Hospital reported the worst overcrowding, with 31 patients awaiting beds. Of note, there were no patients waiting for admission in University Hospital Waterford; Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda; Connolly Hospital; Tullamore hospital; and Our Lady's Hospital, Navan.
However, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service reports having only three-day blood supplies.
"Hospitals have been experiencing extreme pressures recently and there has been a sustained high demand for blood," said Paul McKinney, director of donor services and logistics. "The recent high level of respiratory illness in the community has also impacted the collection of blood and as a result we are running critically low across all blood groups."
In other medical news, Covid testing kits are to remain tax-free, following a decision by Minister for Finance Michael McGrath.
Get a daily dose of Irish Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Irish Sun.
More InformationWASHINGTON, DC - Within hours of blocking a UN Security Council resolution from demanding a ceasefire in the current Mideast ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: In a sign of the challenges ahead for his 2024 re-election bid, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that ...
Israel has acknowledged and thanked the United States and President Joe Biden for standing firmly by Israel's side at the ...
NEW YORK: This week, New York City officials said that one person was killed and six others were injured when ...
NEW YORK, New York - The United Kingdom refrained from supporting demands for a ceasefire in the two-months long Israel-Gaza ...
NEW YORK, New York - The U.S. was alone on Friday in a 13-1 vote for a ceasefire in the ...
DUBLIN, Ireland: The latest Balance for Better Business report has revealed that women now hold 39 percent of board positions ...
BRUSSELS, Belgium: To address power shortages at electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, last week, the European Commission announced plans to ...
© Provided by Xinhua SHANGHAI, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have developed a new model for sub-seasonal forecasts using artificial ...
© Provided by Xinhua In the past year, over 1.59 million vehicles crossed the Halogaland Bridge. The daily average of ...
Tel Aviv [Israel], December 10 (ANI): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin ...
New Delhi [India], December 10 (ANI): Economic nationalism will play an important role in the journey to a developed India, ...