OVER HALF OF patients in hospital recently who have Covid-19 were hospitalised because of the virus, the chief medical officer has told the minister for health.

In his latest weekly letter to Minister Stephen Donnelly, CMO Dr Tony Holohan said that 55% of Covid-19 cases in hospital last Tuesday were hospitalised for the disease.

He described that the Covid-19 burden on acute hospital care has “increased considerably” over recent weeks, from 167 on 28 May to 508 as of 17 June, the day that the letter was sent.

Ireland’s cases and hospitalisations have started to rise again in the last several weeks, with hospital numbers increasing particularly quickly.

The CMO repeated a warning that he has already given to the minister previously that “if the recent rising trend in hospitalised cases continues, we are likely to see increased pressure on the hospital system over the coming weeks”.

“This will further reduce hospital capacity to admit patients for scheduled and unscheduled care,” he said.

Dr Holohan described that a “number of epidemiological indicators have deteriorated in recent weeks suggesting that levels of SARS-CoV-2 transmission have increased”. 

This includes an increase in the number of detected and reported infections and hospitalised cases.

The number of Covid-19 cases in ICU and who are receiving advanced respiratory support in hospital settings outside of ICU “remain broadly stable”.

The CMO said that the “increasing prevalence” of the BA.4 and/or BA.5 Omicron subvariants in Ireland is “likely contributing significantly to the current epidemiological profile”. 

As of 15 June, the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 people (based only on PCR tests) was 291, an increase of 49% from the previous week, with the CMO noting that incidence rates are likely to be underestimates.

On the day the letter was sent (17 June), there were 508 confirmed Covid-19 cases in hospital compared to 355 at the time of the previous letter on 10 June. On average, there were 72 new Covid-19 hospitalisations per day in the seven days prior.

As of 14 June, 55% of hospitalised cases were categorised as being hospitalised for Covid-19. The remaining 45% were categorised as asymptomatic Covid-19 cases and potentially infectious.

38% were aged 80 and older and 34% were between 65 and 79, while 11% were aged 50 to 64. 12% were between 15 and 49 and only 5% were 14 or under.

According to the HSE’s data on cases hospitalised for Covid-19, 46% had received booster vaccination while another 19% had completed their primary vaccination course and 35% had not.

There were 28 confirmed cases in ICUs on 17 June compared with 22 the previous week. Of those 28 cases, 15 were “invasively ventilated”.

The number of Covid-19 cases in ICU whose primary reason for admission to ICU was the virus decreased from 13 on 7 June to 10 on 14 June.

21% of Covid-19 cases in ICU were unvaccinated and 79% were fully vaccinated. Of those who were fully vaccinated, 80% had received a booster or additional dose.

As of early June, there “continues to be a significant number of cases of hospital acquired infection”.

There were 61 hospital-acquired Covid-19 infections reported in the week ending 5 June compared to 26 in the week ending 29 May and 36 in the week ending 22 May.

Dr Holohan said that there was not yet a call for “any change in the current public health advice”.

“However, the recently observed deterioration in the disease profile further emphasises the importance of communicating the existing key public health advice to the general public so that individuals may optimally protect themselves from severe health outcomes associated with Covid-19,” he said.

“It is particularly important that eligible groups for primary and booster doses (both first and second) continue to be encouraged to avail of vaccination in order to confer optimal protection against the risk of severe disease as well as against other potential long-term consequences of infection.”