CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER Dr Tony Holohan  has said that it “wouldn’t make sense” to have had a strategy to completely prevent the spread of Covid-19 into nursing homes, based on the infection rate of the virus.

There are coronavirus cases in around 30% of all nursing homes (around 200 centres), and half of all Covid-19 related deaths have been in nursing-home settings.

At the beginning of the epidemic, it was thought that the reproductive rate of the new coronavirus, or the ‘R naught’, was 2.4 or 2.6. That has now been revised to be closer to four or five (meaning that for every person infected, it’s passed on to another four or five people).

“This is a very transmissible virus,” Dr Holohan said this evening. “It’s more transmissible than the flu. It’s not realistic for us to think that we could keep this entirely out of nursing homes when we consider that fact.”

And when we consider the fact that the populations in those setting is [older] and in which infection prevention controls is a challenge – it’s easier to transmit infection in these institutions that won’t be in the population in general - to build a strategy around preventing transmission of this infection into nursing homes and other environments, would not be realistic. It wouldn’t make sense.

He said that their efforts would be focused instead on preventing the spread from one person to another into nursing homes, or within a nursing home. 

Kathleen McLellan, assistant secretary at the Department of Health and chair of the NPHET Vulnerable People subgroup said that there have been 1,761 coronavirus cases in long-term residential care centres.

Of that number, 1,204 cases have been in nursing homes.

The total number of deaths in long term residential care centres is 406 (329 are lab-confirmed, 77 are suspect cases), and in nursing homes it’s 357 (276 lab-confirmed, and 61 suspect cases).

McLellan said that they had begun to carry out a census over the weekend in LTRC centres. This includes mental health settings, intellectual disabilities and special services.

“That information will give us a stronger sense of the pattern of mortality and disease progression.”

In a statement made yesterday, Nursing Homes Ireland said that it was “appalled” at the decision to establish a working group on nursing homes [that] excludes representation of the majority provider of residential care of older persons”. 

Responding to this criticism, McLellan said that there had been some “confusion” as to what the group was meant to do.

“It was set up to look at the financial support package that would be put in place to support nursing homes. Therefore, it wouldn’t have been appropriate to have Nursing Homes Ireland on that group,” she said, adding that they did consult with nursing homes.

The support package for long-term residential care centres is worth €72 million, which nursing homes can apply for now, she said.

“[It can be used] for whatever it is they might need to work through the pandemic – so be that extra cleaning, staff, and various supplies that they might need.”