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The Covid lead for the Irish College of General Practitioners, Dr Mary Favier has said that the rising number of Covid cases has caused “a ripple of anxiety” for GPs as non-Covid care has been “displaced”.
GPs have noticed “a slow rise” in cases in recent weeks, she told Newstalk Breakfast. This has led to more hospitalisations and more Covid patients in ICU beds “displacing” non-Covid patients.
This was against a background of the good vaccination levels which was a concern for hospital capacity and treatment for non-Covid patients.
Dr Favier pointed out that Kerry University Hospital had been “turning patients away” because there were no beds available.
“This is déjà vu. It’s all about hospital capacity.” It was difficult to understand what was happening, she said.
“There must be something in our behaviour, how we’re acting” as Ireland’s cases were far higher than other European countries.
“We are victims of our next-door neighbour. There is a UK factor.”
There were still “a good few” people who were not vaccinated and they were the ones who were getting sick and ending up in hospital and in ICU, warned Dr Favier. She was particularly concerned about the unvaccinated over 50s and encouraged them to get vaccinated.
People were still getting their first vaccine, she said.
Nphet will meet next Monday to “pull the figures together” and then advise the Government who would make a decision on restrictions, she said.
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