1,410 coronavirus cases confirmed as operations cancelled in Northern Ireland due to patient surge
A man wearing a face mask walks past an entrance to Belfast City Hospital Picture: Brian Lawless/PA
Hospitals in Northern Ireland are cancelling planned operations due to a surge of patients with coronavirus.
The Belfast health trust said it had made the difficult decision to cancel all planned inpatient surgery this week due to rising numbers of Covid cases.
Chief scientific officer Professor Ian Young has warned that as many as one in 40 people may have the virus and hospital inpatients could increase to 1,000 in the coming weeks.
The Stormont Executive was due to meet on Thursday about sweeping new lockdown measures set to come into force on Friday. However, that meeting was postponed due to family bereavements affecting two ministers.
The new restrictions will include a stay-at-home order with anyone away from home without reasonable excuse potentially facing a £200 fixed penalty notice or a fine of up to £5,000 (€5,525) if the case goes to court.
Meanwhile, public gatherings for worship are to be suspended until next month.
The decision was taken by leaders of the Catholic, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist churches following a meeting with medical chiefs.
The latest department of health figures revealed a further 17 deaths with Covid-19, along with 1,410 more positive cases.
Hospital capacity across the region is at 103%, with 599 Covid-confirmed inpatients, 44 of whom are being treated in intensive care.
All of the health trusts are reducing the number of planned operations.
In a statement, the Belfast Trust apologised for the move, adding surgery will be rearranged as soon as possible.
“We will rearrange this surgery as soon as possible and we will do everything we can to ensure continuity of care throughout this challenging time,” they said.
“We are also actively considering moving many outpatient appointments to virtual appointments in order to reduce footfall on our sites and to encourage the public to stay home whenever possible.”
The Western Trust said its hospitals are facing unprecedented pressures with increasing numbers of Covid positive patients and the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen is operating at 118% bed capacity.
It said projections indicate a doubling in numbers from the third week of January.
Geraldine McKay, director of acute hospitals, said they have taken the “very regrettable, but necessary decision” to postpone routine elective inpatient, outpatient and day case surgeries until further notice.
“Red flag and some time critical procedures and clinics will continue, but will be reviewed daily,” she added.
The Northern Trust said it has cancelled the majority of its planned surgery to free up staff to support the significant Covid-19 surge while the South Eastern Trust is still carrying out some elective surgeries, but indicated fewer will be carried out from next Monday.
The Southern Trust said in addition to Covid cases there has also been a rise in traumas due to the recent icy weather.
It temporarily suspended elective in-patient surgery on Thursday and Friday in order to provide timely surgery to time-critical fracture patients.
Prof Young said many more than those diagnosed are likely to be Covid positive because many people are asymptomatic and are not diagnosed.
He said the Mid Ulster Council area had the largest number of cases within the last week, followed by the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council area.
“It’s very likely that in parts of Northern Ireland there are as many as one person in 40 who currently has Covid … in those local government districts which currently have the highest incidence of the virus,” he told the BBC.
“In the past we have had around 500 hospital inpatients being treated for Covid; we could easily before the end of this month rise to 1,000 or more and, indeed, depending on the impact of the new variant, those numbers could rise even further beyond that,” he said.
He urged the public to listen to the stay-at-home message as new lockdown measures are set to become law on Friday.
“My message to everyone in Northern Ireland is to please, please listen to the stay at home message which we are trying to give,” he said.
“People should only be leaving their home for essential purposes, if they really need to. We all need to minimise our contacts.”
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