The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Mayo passed the 500 mark this week after the National Public Health Emergency Team noted a total of 501 confirmed cases on Monday evening last. That number had increased to 510 by Tuesday evening this week and the most recent information available at the time of going to print showed the number stood at 512.
That is an increase of 34 on the same time last week - representing a marked drop from the previous seven-day log, in which an increase of 139 confirmed cases over the previous seven days was recorded. The confirmed cases figures have a lag of two days before being published, the latest figures are as of midnight on Monday, May 4.
Confirmed cases requiring treatment in Mayo University Hospital over the past week remained fairly static, with 34 confirmed cases in the health facility on Thursday, April 30; 31 on Friday, May 1; 33 on Saturday, May 2; 34 on Sunday, May 3; 33 on Monday, May 4; 31 on Tuesday, May 5 and 32 on Wednesday, May 6.
Suspected cases of Covid-19 requiring treatment in Mayo University Hospital also remained relatively static over the past seven days, although a big jump was recorded over the weekend, with 23 suspected cases being treated in the hospital on Friday, May 1 - a jump of 11 from the day before; this number did drop down to 17 on Saturday, May 2 and then down to 13 on Sunday, May 3, with 14 suspected cases being treated on both Monday, May 4 and Tuesday, May 5 - and that number falling to seven as of Wednesday, May 5.
Mayo continues to be the Covid-19 hotspot in Connacht, surpassing Galway by more than 100 cases -which had just 375 cases compared to Mayo's 512 at the time of going to print.
The next two weeks are crucial in terms of weakening the grip of Covid-19 and building on the significant progress made in suppressing the virus, the chief executive of the Saolta University Health Care Group said this week.
Mr Tony Canavan appealed to the public to continue complying with the Government restrictions aimed at eradicating the virus and warned, if people relaxed their approach, the major success achieved so far could "become undone".
He emphasised he was very keen to get this message across and praised people for behaving responsibly throughout the current public health emergency.
Speaking to the Advertiser, he said his greatest concern was that, as the Covid-19 restrictions are gradually eased and the country opens up, the virus could spread.
His comments came in the wake of the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, saying that the situation surrounding Covid-19 is still very fragile.
The chief executive of Saolta, which provides acute and specialist services in seven public hospitals on five sites and employs 10,345 staff, said if people continue to comply with the restrictions, the virus will be "significantly weakened".
"The next two weeks are crucial," Mr Canavan continued. "The virus has been contained but it has been contained as long as we stay indoors. My understanding of where we are at is that we've contained it because we have reduced the amount of movement in terms of closing schools, colleges, workplaces, etc. That is because of the measures implemented by the Government and the fact that people complied with them. I think the point that Simon Harris was making is, if we are not careful with the progress that has been made, it could be reversed.
"The next two weeks will allow us to undermine the virus. We have made really, really good progress. We never reached that point in hospitals where they became overrun. People have been working so hard for so long [abiding by the restrictions] and they will find the next two weeks hard. If they relax their approach I fear there will be a rise in admissions to hospitals.
"I think there is absolutely no question in our minds, if people went back to business as normal and relaxed compliance, there is no doubt that Covid-19 would spread in the community. That's my concern. The situation has to be monitored closely, that's where the importance of testing comes in, we can see when a problem arises. It is a very responsible approach that is being taken. We must look very carefully to see if the virus pops up. We need to be able to resume a normal way of life [in the future] where Covid-19 won't grow again."
He said the fact that significant numbers of beds designated for Covid-19 patients were vacant in local intensive care units during the height of the pandemic, was highly beneficial. However, viewing this situation in a broader context, in terms of other conditions, for example, would give great cause for concern.
"Half of ICU capacity was used for Covid-19 and we thought of it as a good thing. However, if half of ICU was filled with any other category of patient we would be really worried."
The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units throughout the country has dropped. This downward trend has been reflected also in local ICU figures, he said. "On April 11 there were 156 Covid-19 patients in ICUs across the country but by April 30 there were 105. The numbers were reducing daily."
The number of Covid-19 patients in general hospital beds across the country also decreased in the past month from 879 on April 13 to 727 on April 30. Mr Canavan described this as a "nice, steady decline".
The chief executive said his two greatest concerns revolved around the spread of the virus in long term care facilities, such as nursing homes, and the need to keep the infection out of facilities which were currently Covid-free. An estimated two-thirds of nursing homes nationally do not have the virus, he said, and it was important to put "work and effort" into ensuring they do not get it. "Once it gets into a facility, it runs riot", he said.
He continued: "Even though I work in a hospital, one of my greatest fears and concerns is what is happening in our long term care facilities. We must stay focused on doing everything we can in the community, that's the most important area for us to stay focused on, to protect as many lives as possible. Some staff in the hospitals are helping in that regard. In times of crisis, you focus on where the fire is burning.
"These are very vulnerable people. Older people living in nursing homes and elsewhere; if they die of Covid-19, the circumstances of their death is so sad."
Mr Canavan said hospitals and community services have been focusing on helping nursing homes for the past few weeks.
"Even though this is outside the hospitals, we have a two-pronged strategy, to work with those facilities that have Covid-19 to manage it, and to focus on the long term care facilities that do not have it. We need to keep it outside their doors."
