There are 170 nursing homes currently dealing with confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19 among staff and residents, according to figures compiled by the State’s healthcare watchdog.

As the spread of the virus has increased rapidly in recent weeks, nearly one-third of the 575 nursing homes in the country are now facing confirmed or suspected cases.

A spokeswoman for the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) said as of Friday it was aware of current confirmed or suspected cases in 170 nursing homes.

Hospital Report

The regulator said it had also been notified of 28 “unexpected deaths” among nursing home residents in the last three weeks. As in many cases, providers often later clarify if a fatality was coronavirus-related, Hiqa said it was not yet possible to say how many of these were linked to Covid-19.

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Tadhg Daly, chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, which represents private and voluntary providers accounting for about 80 per cent of all homes, said the sector was now "hyper-vigilant".

‘Pretty rampant’

The spread of the virus was “pretty rampant” in the community and as a result nursing homes would inevitably face more cases, he said.

The Health Service Executive has said it is currently dealing with an outbreak of “significant concern” in one nursing home, and 25 further outbreaks classed in the “amber category” of its traffic-light warning system.

Kilminchy Lodge, a Co Laois nursing home, said this week it had 31 confirmed coronavirus cases, with four residents dying from the recent outbreak. A spokeswoman for the home said on Friday there had been “no changes in the situation” in recent days.

Brindley Manor Nursing Home in Convoy, Co Donegal, said last week it was dealing with an outbreak of 30 confirmed cases. Another facility in Swords, north Co Dublin, AnovoCare nursing home, has also confirmed it is responding to an outbreak.

‘Lessons learned’

Nursing home residents account for more than half the 1,838 deaths from the virus to date. Many facilities faced significant outbreaks during the early weeks of the pandemic, with long delays awaiting test results, major staff shortages, and lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) contributing to the virus spreading within centres.

Mr Daly said there were a number of “lessons learned” from the first wave, which would mean nursing homes were better able to respond to current cases.

“The testing is crucial and it means you can react swiftly and know what’s going on,” he said. Previous testing delays meant the virus had been unknowingly spreading through homes, and facilities suddenly found themselves in the midst of large outbreaks, he said.

Along with improvements in the rate of testing, there was now “no issue at all” with the supply of PPE, Mr Daly said. “Staffing will be the big issue for winter, that’s going to be a challenge . . . The last week we’ve seen an escalation from members about staffing,” he said.

Delays of even a number of days or a week in responding to emerging problems in the nursing home sector would have “devastating” consequences, as seen in April and May, Mr Daly said.