Dublin nursing home tackling Covid-19 outbreak

A private nursing home in Dublin is managing a Covid-19 outbreak that has infected 26 residents and staff and resulted in two deaths.

Elmhurst Nursing Home in Glasnevin confirmed that 21 residents and five staff had tested positive for coronavirus.

The home, which is part of the Highfield Healthcare group, said it had been dealing with the outbreak since the first case was identified on December 21 during routine serial testing.

The death of one resident has been confirmed as coronavirus-related, while the death of a second resident is being treated as a probable coronavirus-related death and is expected to be reported as one later this week.

The home has 46 residents and there are 40 staff members.

A spokesperson for Elmhurst confirmed its residents are due to receive the Covid-19 vaccine later this month but declined to comment further.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre reported 22 new Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes in the week ending January 2, up from 13 the previous week.

They come as fears mount that further outbreaks may interrupt the rollout of the vaccine in nursing homes.

Tuesday saw the rollout of the State’s Covid-19 vaccine programme get under way at care homes.

A 95-year-old great-grandmother, who lost her husband to Covid-19, became the first care home resident to receive the coronavirus vaccine in Ireland.

Maura Byrne, who also survived Covid-19, received the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday in Hollybrook Lodge at St James’s Hospital’s residential care unit in Dublin.

Around 16 care homes across the country are set to receive the jab on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said that more than 135,000 people will be vaccinated with two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in Ireland by the end of February.

He said that 75,000 of those vaccinated would be people in long-term care facilities, both residents and staff.

Online Editors