Outbreaks Of Covid In Wicklow Residential Homes A Cause For Concerns, As Close Contact Testing Resumes

Close contact testing resumes today, after it was suspended at the end of last year.

1,466 new cases of the disease were confirmed yesterday - along with 47 further deaths.
There were 1,548 patients with Covid-19 in public hospitals last night, with 216 of those in ICU.

Meanwhile Wicklow’s Sinn Féin TD, John Brady has raised concerns following reports of serious outbreaks of Covid-19 at a number of residential homes here in Wicklow.

He says in one facility alone, ten out of twelve residents tested positive for the virus. A further three coronavirus deaths occurred in another home. Deputy Brady says Management of the Sunbeam House Services have also reported that a further thirty staff are either on sick leave or self-isolating due to close contact.

John Brady says people believed mass infections in residential homes around the country had been brought under control, but delays in rolling out a vaccination programme will only see a resurgence of cases .