All patients and staff at the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, south Dublin are to be tested for Covid-19 following an outbreak at the facility.
The HSE said there are no concerns at this time for any staff or patients’ health associated with the outbreak and that all relevant family members are being contacted.
Any staff identified as close contacts of Covid-19 cases have been asked to restrict their movements.
The CMH is the State’s only facility for holding and treating severely mentally ill offenders and provides care to over 80 people.
A testing programme of all staff at the hospital was scheduled to take place in line with public health recommendations of long-term residential facilities.
“This process has been brought forward and all patients and staff will be included in this Covid-19 testing programme due to an outbreak,” a statement from the HSE said on Wednesday evening.
“It is not appropriate to comment further on individual cases except to state there are no concerns at this time for any staff or patients’ health associated with this outbreak.
“In accordance with HPSC (Health Protection Surveillance Centre) guidelines, an outbreak control team has been convened and continues to work with public health and occupational health to manage the response to any Covid-19 outbreaks at the Central Mental Hospital.”
The HSE said patients are being supported individually by the staff to “understand the situation”.
“Covid-19 testing and contact tracing of both staff and patients is undertaken to ensure the protection of public health. Any staff identified as close contacts of Covid-19 cases are asked to restrict their movements,” it added.
“Plans have been developed to support continuity of services and guide senior management to identify the level of impact on service and staff. The protection of public health is of the utmost importance and every effort is taken to reduce the risk of spread of Covid-19.”
