A staggering 841 patients who went into hospital for non-Covid related issues between March and November 2021 contracted the disease and subsequently died.
As for residential settings and nursing homes, over 2,000 people who contracted the virus passed away.
It is now understood that 60% of all Covid deaths in Ireland were as a result of an outbreak of the disease in healthcare settings, with 15% of deaths being linked to acute hospitals.
The latest figures, announced by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) on Wednesday, reveal the extent of hospital acquired Covid infections in 45 hospitals across the country.
Reporter Barry Lenihan told the Today with Claire Byrne show the extent of the problem and the breakdown of the “stark” figures.
Since the start of the pandemic, 6,627 cases of Covid-19 linked to outbreaks in healthcare settings, including healthcare staff. Around 1,000 of which were contracted in a three week period during the January peak of this year.
The HPSC report came after a parliamentary question from Aontu leader and Meath-West TD Peadar Toibin who described the situation as “heartbreaking.”
“The majority of people who died from Covid caught it in a hospital or in a nursing home, and these are two locations which are either owned or run by the State or at least heavily regulated by the State,” Mr Toibin said.
He added: “It’s amazing that even in the last week we’re having this debate where the HSS is punshing for hospital staff to be left out of the requirements to restrict movement for five days if they’re a close contact of a person in their home with Covid.”
The HSE has said that it is not possible to accurately trace infections of the disease, and that not all fatalities can be accurately linked to healthcare settings.
Last week, HSE boss Paul Reid said that he is pushing on with derogation for healthcare staff, as exemption on the ‘five day rule’ being brought in for close contacts, but healthcare unions have previously said the move would be a 'mistake'.
Since last Tuesday, it has been mandatory for all household contacts of a positive Covid case to self-isolate for five days and to carry out antigen tests if asymptomatic.
The National Joint Council group of healthcare unions wrote to the HSE last week, heavily opposing their plan to exclude healthcare workers from these new rules.
It said: "We cannot repeat the mistakes of previous derogations that allowed healthcare workers to be exempt from public health advice.
“We know in the past that by allowing healthcare workers to be exempt we saw infections spike among healthcare workers and patients, particularly when it came to the care of older people."
