Three mental health facilities have been forced to close due to outbreaks of Covid-19.
According to the Irish Times, the Mental Health Commission has warned that people requiring urgent inpatient care are being put at risk due to the closures.
There were 55 cases of the virus confirmed among staff and residents in the three centres in recent week, resulting in the closure of services to new admissions.
This week, 83 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed among staff and residents in mental health centres around the country, compared to 81 last week.
Chief executive of the Commission, John Farrelly accepted that the closure was necessary in order to contain the outbreaks, but said we cannot afford to have people waiting for alternative accommodation when they require urgent care.
“When people are very unwell, and perhaps suicidal, we cannot afford any kind of delay before they start receiving treatment,” Mr Farrelly said.
This comes as HSE chief Paul Reid has said Level 5 restrictions are working to drive the number of patients being treated for the virus down in Irish hospitals.
According to the Department of Health on Friday evening there were 292 people with the virus in hospital, with 37 in Intensive Care Units. New admissions in the previous 24 hours accounted for 24 of the total figure.
