Amid calls for a return to mask-wearing a Kilkenny consultant says health service is stretched beyond capacity as covid infections soar
A consultant cardiologist at St Luke’s hospital for Carlow Kilkenny says their services are on a knife edge.
Michael Conway says overcrowding during this current wave of covid means they are being stretched beyond capacity.
42 patients at St Luke’s have the virus according to the latest HSE figures with 2 of them being treated in ICU.
While the daily trolley report from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation says there are 30 patients waiting on a bed at the local hospital today.
The INMO is looking for mask-wearing to return- a call echoed this morning by WHO expert Dr David Navarro.
Michael Conway told Sue Nunn he agrees we have to return to that level of caution:
“Wear a mask. Just keep your droplets to yourself”
You can hear the interview in full with Consultant Cardiologist Michael Conway here
A statement has been issued to KCLR on behalf of the local hospital.
It confirms an “exceptional rise in admission of patients with covid-19 over the past 5 days”
It says the emergency department at St Luke’s, like all others, is “extremely busy with high numbers of patients attending” and urges people to consider all other options before attending.
