Steady rise in number of Covid patients at SWAH

THE Western Trust may be past the peak of the second wave of Covid-19, but the number of cases at the South West Acute Hospital are ‘rising steadily’.

On Friday the number of Covid-19 patients in the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) in Enniskillen had risen to 19 as an increasing number of people in the area require hospital treatment to fight the virus.

There were no Covid patients in SWAH’s intensive care unit (ICU) on Friday. The 19 patients were being treated on Covid-19 wards in the hospital.

Geraldine McKay, director of Acute Services in the Western Trust, said SWAH was in ‘high surge’ across the wards, while in low surge for ICU.

“Over the past week, we have gone from 14 to 16 to 19 patients.

“The difference is that they are manageable patients in ward areas, and we do not have the same impact on critical in SWAH as they have had in Altnagelvin.

“Even though the numbers are rising, they are rising steadily and slowly.

“They are manageable and in ward areas rather than needing critical care.

“We are just coping on a daily basis, and we are reviewing everything we are doing daily but the cases are slower to increase, but they are rising,” said Mrs McKay.

Since October 3, there have been 35 Covid related deaths in Altnagelvin, and seven in SWAH.

There are currently 1,328 Western Trust staff members off work, and on Friday eight per-cent of SWAH staff members were off, with ten per-cent off at Altnagelvin.

The number of cases at Altnagelvin Hospital is falling leading Mrs McKay to believe that Western Trust may be over the worst of the second wave.

“In Altnagelvin, we are coming down in numbers and I think we are starting to plateau out slightly.

“We must thank the public for their compliance and they have brought us to the position of plateauing. The transmission rate is down, however cases in critical care are still moving up and it is under pressure at this minute in time.

“At surge one in Altnagelvin, the highest number of patients was 35 at any time, and at this point we have been at 76 and 77. There has been quite a spike in the number.

“On October 16 and 17, we had an increase from the low 50s up to 71 patients that weekend, which had an ongoing impact on our surgical services,” explained Mrs McKay.

Currently, the majority of health services have been maintained in Western Trust hospitals, including Omagh Hospital which is still carrying out surgeries.