#DOOMSDAY COVID FULL#

He believes Ireland will let larger countries like the UK and US take the lead on decisions on fully reopening society and then follow suit. In terms of the impact of Omicron on the reopening of society, Prof Ryan said he expects restrictions will ease further next month. “There are not as many doctors around to discharge patients. Last year a much larger proportion of people who were admitted were really sick. Right now we have four in ICU with Covid. Last year we had really sick patients in ICU, we had 20 Covid patients at one stage.

This is not the same illness as last year.

#DOOMSDAY COVID FULL#

“Our ICU is full but then, it’s always full. He said St Vincent’s ICU is not overwhelmed with seriously ill Covid patients, particularly in comparison to this time last year.

Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7.30am and Fionnán Sheahan's exclusive take on the day's news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.Įnter email address This field is required Sign Up A couple of weeks ago, that figure was between 300 and 400. “Because it is circulating so widely in the community, it is expected there will be 1,000 Covid patients across our hospitals. The high prevalence of Covid-19 in the community is naturally leading to an upsurge in hospital presentations, he added. The next two to three weeks will be very tricky at the coalface.” It’s porters, administration and lab staff, it’s across all sections of the hospital. It is not just medical staff who are out of work.

“Patients are entering a stagnant river, it should be free-flowing. A big issue is that we have 400 staff out either with Covid, or being a close contact,” Prof Ryan said. The volume of patients is very high but the disease is not as bad. The next few weeks will be very challenging. It’s a doomsday scenario, in terms of numbers. “We are seeing numbers like never before. He said hospital staff nationwide are being “really challenged” and the next few weeks will be tricky in terms of dealing with the sheer volume of people who are presenting at the hospital with Covid.

Doomsday covid