An Irish GP is asking the public to begin isolation at the earliest sign of Covid infection as pressure begins to mount once again on Irish hospitals.
Dr. Nuala O'Connor said that there are many GPs being contacted by patients with Covid, who have already been to work or have gone to an event because their symptoms were minor.
She insists that people should stay at home if they have any symptoms of the virus and that kids should not be sent to parties or summer camps if they have a cold or other symptoms of Covid.
Speaking on RTE’s Today with Claire Byrne, Dr O'Connor said: "We're again seeing lots of Covid after social events such as weddings and funerals.
“It's the early symptoms that you have when you're most infectious. And please do think about others who may be more vulnerable and stay at home.
“There is an awful lot of Covid in the community now, and we're seeing a big impact on that in our day-to-day work in general practice."
She went on to say that hospitals are facing major pressure amid the summer wave of infection and that a huge number of beds are now filled with Covid patients.
"Even if they aren't particularly sick, there's a lot of infection prevention and control measures that need to be in place, and it slows up everything and unfortunately, it tends to displace other care."
Some of the earliest symptoms of Covid-19, according to the HSE, are:
- fever (high temperature - 38 degrees Celsius or above) - including having chills
- dry cough
- fatigue (tiredness)
While encouraging people to get their vaccine if they are due one - or if they have never had theirs - Dr. O’Connor added that a "significant amount" of the patients in hospital with Covid have not been vaccinated at all.
As of 8:00 am on Monday, there were 885 people in hospital with the virus, which marks an increase of 59 people since Sunday.
Of these, 32 people are in intensive care units as a result of Covid.
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