A one week extension of “significant reductions” in scheduled care at Ennis Hospital and University Hospital Limerick has been confirmed while the planned opening of a new COVID-19 testing centre in Ennis has been delayed.
A “significant number of staff” at Ennis Hospital and University Hospital Limerick are currently off work and self-isolating following recent outbreaks of COVID-19 while a spokesperson for UL Hospitals Group has refused to specify on how many people are affected.
Fourteen new cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Co Clare while an outbreak has been confirmed at Ennis Hospital.
444 new cases of COVID-19 are known in the Republic of Ireland, five of which are in Co Clare.
An intermediate care facility at the University of Limerick has closed earlier than anticipated.
HSE officials are said to be considering the expansion of services provided at Ennis Hospital.
A Clare TD has warned that “a calamity” is on the cards with just 23 critical care beds provided at University Hospital Limerick since the onset of COVID-19.
All elective surgeries scheduled to take place at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) have been cancelled for the remainder of the week as the hospital deals with “significant capacity challenges”.
Elected representatives have stressed that levels of overcrowding cannot be let return to the Mid-West.