Nursing home visiting restrictions continue
Restrictions on visiting arrangements put in place in Older Persons Nursing Units across the five counties of Community Healthcare Organisation Area 1 (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo) will continue, the HSE says.
“We wish to thank the public for their support in recent days as all parts of the health services prepare for and respond to COVID-19,” a spokesperson said, reminding that immediate family members only visit, and that children do not visit local facilities.
“Visiting should be limited to one person at a time. We request that people should be sensible regarding their visiting and that anyone who has signs or symptoms of illness should not visit and anyone who has returned from holidays from an affected area should not visit our units,” the spokesperson added.
Chief Officer CHO 1 Mr John Hayes stated: “We recognise that the visiting restrictions may be challenging for patients and their families, however, our priority must be to protect the patients in our Community hospitals and Nursing units who are vulnerable to infection. We would like to thank members of the public for their co-operation. We are very conscious that as the entire health service prepares to meet the challenges ahead, there will unfortunately be an impact on people using our services. We will do everything we can to keep that impact to a minimum. We wish to thank the people of the region for working with us.”
Director of Public Health, North West, Dr Anthony Breslin added: “Ireland remains in the containment phase. That means that all efforts are being made to identify contacts and to give them specific public health advice.”
They add that if a person has been to one of the affected areas and you are not feeling well, check if you have symptoms of coronavirus. These are a cough, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties, fever (high temperature). If you do have symptoms of coronavirus, phone your GP/GP Out Of Hours Service or local emergency department (ED) without delay.
The HSE wish to reiterate that anyone with symptoms should not show up at their GP/ GP Out of Hours Service or ED unannounced.
The most important steps to help prevent the spread of the virus are:
1) Wash our hands, thoroughly and regularly for at least 20 seconds.
2) Stop the spread of infections by covering your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, either with a tissue or your arm.
3) Go to HSE.ie/coronavirus for the best and most current information as the situation evolves. If you have particular concerns, you can ring HSE Live on 1850 24 1850.