Mandatory face masks needed in hospitals again as new Covid variants strike, professor warns

Prof Jack Lambert of the Mater Hospital in Dublin also said hospitals should bring back mandatory face masks during the current surge.

He said there are some reports the variants driving the rise in cases in recent weeks could pose a greater risk of disease to people who are more susceptible, such as those who are immunocompromised, than previous strains.

“From my clinical observation, that might be true. I have had two immunocompromised patients who were infected and admitted to intensive care recently and they would have sailed through after being infected with previous variants,” Prof Lambert said.

He said “we have dropped the ball” when it comes to precautions around Covid-19 and that during the waves, which come around three times a year, all hospital and health staff should wear face masks. “I am in a clinic today and I am wearing a mask,” he said.

He said there needs to be more public health messaging on how people can protect themselves from the virus in the community, including in crowded settings.

“This virus is not going away, it is still killing people,” he said.

Experts have warned that existing vaccines may not provide the same level of protection against the new FLiRt variants because they are several mutations away from previous variants.

Prof Kingston Mills, an immunology expert at Trinity College Dublin said earlier this week that the current variants may be evolving away from the strain the vaccines were made to protect against.

There were 1,108 cases of Covid confirmed last week, slightly down on the previous week, and 387 people with the virus in hospitals. One patient with Covid was admitted to intensive care.

A total of 87 outbreaks were notified, including some in nursing homes and hospitals that led to visiting restrictions in some areas.

In a briefing note to the Oireachtas health committee this week, the HSE said a number of hospitals have had to introduce visiting restrictions because of Covid outbreaks, which in some cases have been exacerbated by the vomiting bug.

Visiting restrictions have been put in place in Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, Mullingar Hospital and Sligo Hospital since the start of the current wave.

“The number of Covid-19 cases hospitalised is trending upward. Figures from June 25 show an increase of 64 over the past seven days and a rise of 233 in the previous fourteen days,” the HSE said. “Of the hospitalised Covid-19 cases, 51.7pc, or 241, of patients required hospital care for disease caused by Covid-19, while the remaining 225 were infectious asymptomatic.”

Three patients were in intensive care with complications due to Covid.

There was low take-up of the last Covid booster, although it was highest in the over-80s. However, failure to get a booster could leave some at-risk people with waning immunity.