A south Dublin nursing home – Simpson’s Hospital in Dundrum – has recorded 15 deaths from Covid-19 in an outbreak of the disease that struck the care facility last month.
The deaths at the nursing home on Ballinteer Road, which is run by one of Ireland’s oldest charities, amount to almost a third of the care facility’s 48-bed occupancy.
It is one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks to affect a nursing home in the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic that has led to record numbers of infections, hospitalisations and ICU admissions.
More than 100 nursing homes out of 582 across the State are dealing with Covid-19 outbreaks.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Simpson’s Hospital would not disclose the number of positive cases in the home but it is understood to be a severe outbreak that affected large numbers of staff and residents.
Christmas
Many of the deaths at the nursing home took place over the Christmas and New Year period.
“I can unfortunately confirm that we had an outbreak of Covid-19 in December. We have sadly had 15 deaths since our first confirmed case,” said Sudha Baby Isaac, director of nursing.
“We are especially so distressed to have worked so hard at keeping the virus out of the hospital since March to suffer an outbreak in December so close to the roll-out of vaccines.”
The nursing home had received “excellent support” from the HSE, she said.
“Our staff have worked incredibly hard and made many sacrifices to care for our wonderful residents during this period and we have not been short-staffed at any time,” she said.
