A second wave of the coronavirus is “inevitable,” one of the country’s top experts warned yesterday.
Prof Patrick Mallon said Ireland’s A&Es need to rapidly upscale capacity in preparation for another surge.
He told the Dail’s special Covid-19 committee: “It is inevitable we will see a resurgence in cases as we relax restrictions.
"Ongoing community transmission, such as that seen in the US, Sweden and parts of the UK, together with resurgence of cases in Lisbon and the outbreaks reported in Germany, serve to highlight Ireland is still very much within a geographical high-risk zone for Covid-19.”
The UCD and St Vincent’s Hospital’s Professor said testing and contact tracing will be key to tackling any second wave.
Prof Mallon praised the health services and public for how we are tackling the first wave but he warned against complacency.
He said: “There is no effective pharmaceutical treatment or vaccine to prevent acquisition or spread of this infection.
“In addition to the large number of deaths we have witnessed in Ireland, as highlighted earlier this week to this committee, many of those affected, even young and healthy individuals, experience considerable morbidity and prolonged recovery times.
“Accepting any level of ongoing community transmission puts people’s health at risk and will further hold back economic recovery.” Meanwhile, the HSE has revealed the number of people with Covid-19 in intensive care units is at an all-time low.
There are just nine ICU patients in Ireland, a huge drop from the April peak when 160 were being treated.
These nine patients are receiving care in five hospitals in Dublin and Cork. Another 10 people suspected to have Covid-19 were in ICUs and awaiting test results.
Meanwhile, there were 31 people confirmed to have the virus in hospitals, with 121 suspected cases.
There are currently 82 ICU beds available for all patients across the country.
There are also 439 non-ICU beds within the healthcare system.
