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HealthNews

‘Close contact’ health workers drafted back due to staff shortages

written by Chris McNulty January 13, 2021
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HEALTH workers who have been deemed closed contacts, but are not showing Covid-19 symptoms have been called back to work.

Anne O’Connor, the HSE’s Chief Operations Officer, has confined that asymptomatic close contacts were being monitored while at work.

The decision was taken in light of the vast number of healthcare workers who are off and as the acute hospital system continues to feel the strain.

With 7,000 HSE staff out of work at present, the system is under severe pressure.

This morning, it was confirmed that there are over 100 patients receiving Covid-19 treatment in Letterkenny University Hospital for example.

On Sunday evening, extra staff were drafted in to LUH to help cope with a surge of patients presenting.

Close contacts of positive cases would usually be out of work for 14 days, but Ms O’Connor said ‘that is not available to us in that instance’.

She said:  “Clearly that is something we would use as a last resort… it has been used. Where people are close contacts of cases and asymptomatic, there is a process where they are monitored by occupational health and they can return to work. We have had to do that.

“At the weekend, we had to put a call out to staff in Letterkenny to come in as we were under so much pressure and I would see that happening in other sites.

“The reality is now that the demand is so high, and the numbers are becoming so high, that we need people at work and given the level of absenteeism, that is becoming very difficult. This is across the board in our nursing homes as well as our hospitals,”

‘Close contact’ health workers drafted back due to staff shortages was last modified: January 13th, 2021 by Chris McNulty
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Tags:
coronaviruscovid-19HSELetterkenny University Hospitalluh
Chris McNulty

Author of 'Boxing In Donegal: A History (2021)' - the definitive history of the sport in County Donegal - and 'Relentless: A Race Through Time', the 2019 memoir of former Irish Athletics Team Manager Patsy McGonagle. From St Johnston and now based in Letterkenny, Chris was a nominee for NUJ Sports Journalist of the Year in 2010. Honoured by the Donegal Boxing Board in 2016 for his coverage on the sport.

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