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 InformationNEW YORK CITY, New York: After reporting record revenues in the fourth-quarter of 2022, US airlines expect strong travel demand ...
MANILA, Philippines: After a Filipina domestic worker was killed and dumped in the desert in the oil-rich emirate of Kuwait, ...
LONG BEACH, California: Long Beach, California-based Rocket Lab has launched its first mission from the United States, as part of ...
Israel was behind Sunday morning's drone strike on an Iranian munitions facility; the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing American ...
LONDON, England: Of the 14 main battle tanks and additional artillery support it will send to Ukraine, Britain hopes its ...
LONDON, England: Insurance broker Aon has estimated that natural disasters caused global economic losses worth $313 billion in 2022.It added ...
LONDON, England: Flybe, a British regional airline, abruptly closed operations on January 28. The airline offered flight to Belfast, Birmingham ...
LONDON, England: Of the 14 main battle tanks and additional artillery support it will send to Ukraine, Britain hopes its ...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Ireland's consumer energy prices dropped 15 percent last week, the result of warm weather and full stocks of ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The US State Department has said that in the latest fiscal year, US military equipment exported to foreign ...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Finland and Sweden are prepared to join the NATO alliance, the U.S. State Department announced this week.The move ...
DUBLIN, Ireland: The European Commission is taking Ireland to court, claiming that Ireland has not protected the country's lakes, rivers, ...