A surge of COVID-19 cases in Limerick is a "warning to every other county", a GP says.
The usual county-by-county breakdown of daily new coronavirus cases hasn't been released for over a week due to the ongoing impact of the HSE cyberattack.
However, authorities in Limerick have been releasing provisional data around the spread of the virus in the area.
There have 272 confirmed cases in the midwest over the past eight days, with a majority of those - 259 - in Limerick.
Meanwhile, the UL Hospitals Group said on Friday that 14 COVID-19 positive patients were admitted on May 20th - compared to just two on the same day the previous week.
Many of those being treated - including some in ICU - are said to be adults in the 30s, 40s and 50s.
Dr Mai Mannix, Director of Public Health Mid-West, said parents of young children are among those in hospital.
She has urged people in the area to avoid high-risk activity, in a bid to help frontline workers who are dealing with the HSE cyberattack on top of the current surge.
Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, journalist David Raleigh said full details of the situation have been limited due to the impact of the cyberattack.
He said: “What we’re told is it’s a number of relatively young adults… with COVID-19 are being treated in the intensive care unit at University Hospital Limerick.
“These patients I understand are aged in their 30s, 40s, 50s… [some] parents of young children.”
He noted that public health officials say a rapid increase in “high-risk, indoor social activities across all age groups” - such as house parties, student gatherings, family events and Eid celebrations - have factored into the recent surge.
Such cases are also leading to onward transmission into schools and workplaces.
Limerick Mayor Michael Collins, meanwhile, is concerned there could be a local lockdown if the surge gets any worse.
“Limerick has been unlucky"
Dr Yvonne Williams - a GP based in Shannon, near Limerick City - says her colleagues across the region are seeing an increase in contacts from patients with COVID-19 symptoms or who've been a close contact.
With electronic referrals down, doctors are urging anyone with symptoms or who has been a close contact to attend a testing centre - including a site at St Joseph’s Hospital in Limerick city centre that's due to open tomorrow.
All testing sites are currently operating on a walk-in basis.
Dr Williams believes Limerick has simply been "unlucky" to be the latest county to see a local increase in cases, following a similar surge in Donegal several weeks ago.
She said: "It really is a warning to every other county - it could be your own town next week.
“I don’t think people in Limerick have been doing anything that isn’t happening in other areas.
"They were just unlucky that some people who had cases went to indoor gatherings, and it spread quickly across up to 20 workplaces.”
She said the Indian variant of the virus remains a concern, although it will take some time to carry out the testing to see whether any of the recent cases are linked to the new strain.
