St Luke’s Hospital for Carlow Kilkenny is coping well so far with emergency procedures put in place for Covid-19.
The general manager of the hospital was speaking on The Way It Is with Sue Nunn last night when she explained how they were preparing for the surge in demand for care there.
Measures include extra intensive care beds and a two-stream system to separate coronavirus patients from the rest of the hospital.
While the numbers of patients diagnosed is expected to keep rising, Anne Slattery told KCLR the hospital is performing well.
She also said frontline healthcare staff are being asked not to go home for the time being if it would put a vulnerable person at risk of contracting the virus.
Staff at St Luke’s who share a house or apartment are being asked to move out for a while if they can.
“We’re checking with all staff who may need to live separately from somebody else or if maybe there is a number of staff sharing an apartment it is encouraged that they would separate for a period of time.
“Every hospital in Ireland is looking at that particular situation. It probably affects some hospitals more than others, there are plans in place in relation to that,” she said.
