Time to lift visiting restrictions, maternity hospitals told

HSE CEO Paul Reid at Dr Steevens’ Hospital for the weekly HSE operational update on the response to Covid-19. Photograph: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland

The HSE has written to maternity hospitals advising them it is time to lift visiting restrictions for partners of pregnant women, the head of the HSE has said.

Maternity hospitals have been criticised for the slow pace of easing restrictions despite vaccination and falling caseloads, but have now been advised to increase access.

This would ease limits for partners from just attending the anomaly scan, active labour, and neonatal units to normal access.

HSE chief executive Paul Reid said: “We believe the conditions are right that restrictions should be lifted.” 

If hospitals cannot yet comply, they will be asked to communicate this clearly to women.

Mr Reid also said he is more hopeful now than at anytime since the pandemic started, and praised the hard work of the public as well the vaccination impact.

He said: “I think the public can have greater assurance. We are seeing benefits for the medically vulnerable, I think people can look forward with greater confidence.”

However he continue to appeal to school-goers to stay home if they have symptoms of Covid-19. 

Referring to the “great sacrifices” young people have made, he said public health teams have reported “far too often” the source of a school outbreak is a symptomatic student.

Looking at the vaccination roll-out, he said they are on track to reach their target this week, with Friday the busiest day so far of the roll-out at 45,000 doses given.

They expect this week to deliver between 250,000 and 270,000 doses. There are now 2,000 vaccinators working alongside HSE teams, and a further 2,000 in the recruitment pipeline.

There are 436,000 people registered on the portal, with 63% of those aged 65 to 69 with their first dose.

Vaccination starts for the over-50s next week, with 100,000 expected according to Damian McCallion, national lead on vaccines.

Vaccination using the single-shot Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine started on Thursday. A HSE-run clinic is expected to vaccinate 700 homeless people over two weeks.

Mr Reid said their request to Government for flexibility in the rollout is based on wanting to keep “the pace and momentum going, we have put it together on the basis of utilising all available vaccines through May and June”. 

Pharmacies

He added: “We have used GPs, vaccination centres, we do see pharmacies as part of the plan moving forward."

So far 800 pharmacies have signed up for the programme. Mr McCallion said the plan was to use AstraZeneca and J&J in pharmacies, but this may be adjusted depending on the advice received this week.

Increasing Covid-19 case numbers in counties like Cork which previously had very low numbers is a sign vigilance is still needed, chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said.

He said concerns about low numbers registering for vaccines have been unfounded, saying the numbers so far “are astonishingly high numbers” compared to the uptake of the flu vaccines.

Chief operations officer Anne O’Connor said there are outbreaks in just five nursing homes this week. There were no new outbreaks last week.

Non-Covid care

Ms O’Connor said non-Covid care is returning. 

"We are seeing that our cancer services now are operating at full belt," she said.

But she warned there is an “ongoing increase” in demand on emergency departments. She highlighted growing trolley numbers in Cork University Hospital and Galway University Hospital.

“That coupled with the Covid position …is very challenging in some of our acute sites at the minute,” she said.