New Covid variant circulating
Health authorities are concerned new variants of Covid-19 - Eris, BA.6 ('Pi') and the highly mutated BA.2.86 ('Pirola') - are spreading more quickly than other strains of the virus.
As of last Tuesday, August 15, there were 305 new cases reported, the highest number in a single day since the end of March.
Days earlier the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) reported a new variant of interest, 'Eris’, had been detected among Irish cases, considering it “more transmissible than previous circulating variants” and associated it with outbreaks, including in some hospitals.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has also classified 'Eris' a variant of concern.
“We are currently seeing an increase in COVID-19 infections in Ireland,” said the HPSC, where indicators had been trending downwards during May and June 2023, and began to increase again from the end of June.
A similar trend is occurring in the UK where 'Pi' and 'Pirola' have been identified.
To date there, since Covid first emerged, there have been just over 27,200 reported infections in County Cavan, the seventh lowest in the country, and only ahead of Carlow, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Longford, and Leitrim.
In the 14 days up to last Tuesday, Cavan had 13 reported cases of Covid infection. However the HPSC notes “no significant increase” in infection severity and says that the number of patients in ICU with COVID-19 infection, while it did “increase slightly” during July, remains “overall low”.
Pressure on A&E
Twice in the space of a month Cavan General Hospital have appealed to the public to use “alternative pathways” due a high volume of patients presenting at A&E.
Hospital management urged people to avoid A&E if possible and seek medical attention elsewhere as appropriate.
Trolley watch figures collated by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO_ identified eight people awaiting treatment on trolleys at Cavan General Hospital on Monday of this week (August 21) and nine on Tuesday (August 22).