Galway records new highs in Covid-19 cases

Galway recorded its highest daily, weekly and monthly increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases, just before the city and county moved to Level 3 restrictions along with the rest of the country.

As mostly hospitality businesses shuttered at midnight Tuesday for a three-week partial lockdown, data from the HSE revealed that the Intensive Care Units at Galway’s public hospitals were full this week, with non-Covid patients.

Despite a significant spike in cases, Covid-19 hospital admissions have been low, according to the HSE, and yet just one ICU bed was available in UHG or Portiuncula on Tuesday.

In the week to Sunday October 4, Galway recorded 136 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, the biggest weekly increase since the pandemic began.

During that week, there were 51 Covid clusters confirmed in the HSE West counties of Galway, Roscommon and Mayo, and the vast majority of them – 41 – were in private homes. Seven were described as ‘other’, which includes retail, hotels, pubs, extended family and travel related. Three outbreaks were in the workplace.

The highest daily increase in cases (28) was recorded last Tuesday, September 29; and with 269 confirmed cases, September was the worst month on record.

For comparison, in April, when the first wave peaked, the total number of cases was 266; the highest daily total was 26; and the highest weekly total was 92.

And yesterday (Wednesday), a further 35 new cases in Galway were announced by the Department of Health.
This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read more on incidence rates around the city and county and the impacts of Level 3 restrictions, see this week’s Connacht Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.