Woman twice broke visitor ban at Cork Covid ward and took selfies with infectious patient

Two breaches of security occurred at an isolated Covid-19 ward in Cork's South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital during which a woman gained entry to see a relative and took selfies at the bedside.

According to sources in the hospital, the woman got on to the ward, which is designated as strictly no visitors, without being spotted by staff, and went to her relative’s bedside where she proceeded to take photographs before she was discovered.

Within two weeks, the same woman managed to get in again, this time in the company of another relative who is a child. Again she was escorted off the hospital grounds.

A spokesperson for the hospital confirmed the incidents, which happened during the worst wave of the pandemic in the last month.

“South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital can confirm that there were two minor security breaches at the hospital,” she said.

“The incidents were swiftly dealt with by hospital security and no patients or staff were impacted. 

"All breaches are taken very seriously by hospital management who have reported the incidents to the appropriate authorities within the HSE. The hospital has robust safeguard measures in place to prevent unauthorised entry and limited access through one point of entry.” 

The gardaí were not informed about the incident. It is unclear whether there were attempts to obtain the woman’s details in an effort to follow up for testing and tracing.

Visits to hospital, even for those in critical care, have been severely restricted since the outset of the pandemic. These restrictions have included a complete ban on visits.

The South Infirmary only permits visits in very particular circumstances including an end of life situation.