Expert warns of Irish Covid variant if transmissions not halted

Dr Catherine Motherway, left, an intensive care consultant at UHL, receiving her Covid-19 vaccine from Clinical Nurse Manager, Margaret Carroll.

Intensive care consultant Dr Catherine Motherway has cautioned the public to be careful while awaiting the Covid-19 vaccine.

There was still a “significant burden of disease” on the hospital system, she told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show. The high rate of viral transmission had increased with the arrival of new variants.

"There could be an Irish variant if the country did not halt transmission levels," she warned.

Dr Motherway pointed out that the number of patients with Covid-19 in intensive care accounted for half of the country’s ICU capacity.

“This time last year we didn't know this was coming. We were witnessing the scenes in Italy, which were horrendous. Now we know that we have the vaccine. We know that we have better treatments. We know this as a preventable disease.” 

 The vaccination of healthcare staff meant that the health system was “much safer.” 

Dr Motherway said she understood people’s frustration with the restrictions, but there remained “a lot of work” to be done to reduce numbers and in the meantime “we need to be careful” while awaiting the vaccine.

“What we need is a degree of patience. It has been a horrendous 12 months, we’re not out of the woods yet, but there is a way out of the woods.” 

Many people were waiting for procedures to go ahead, which had been deferred for a long time due to the pandemic.

“They are waiting to get back into hospital.”