More patients and staff contracted Covid-19 in hospitals in the first four months of the year than during the whole of last year, new figures from the Health Service Executive (HSE) show.
In all, 3,782 people contracted the virus in hospitals between January 1st and May 1st of this year, compared with 3,280 between January 1st and December 31st, 2021.
St Vincent’s University Hospital has had the highest number of hospital-acquired Covid-19 infections this year so far at 324, followed by Beaumont Hospital at 322.
Several hospitals have had no cases of hospital-acquired Covid-19 this year. They are: Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street, Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh, Rotunda Hospital, Kilcreene Regional Orthopaedic Hospital and University Hospital Waterford.
Children’s hospitals in general had a much lower level of hospital-acquired infection, with six cases reported from the three Children’s Health Ireland hospitals.
However, that is still higher than the total number reported in 2021, during which time only two cases were recorded.
Representatives from the sector have attributed the increased rate of hospital-acquired Covid to the increasing number of people on trolleys, with overcrowding beginning to creep back up to pre-pandemic levels.