NURSING homes have been hit by 17 clusters of the coronavirus leaving several vulnerable elderly residents severely ill from the infection. It comes as the death toll rose to 46 yesterday as the virus claimed the lives of another 10 patients, including eight men and two women. Health Minister Simon Harris is to meet with Nursing Homes Ireland amid growing concern about the manner in which the virus is taking hold in some homes, including nursing homes run by the HSE. Nursing Homes Ireland chief Tadhg Daly said the HSE should not be recruiting staff from nursing homes at this stage and they needed to secure a share of the cargo of protective clothing and equipment that arrived from China yesterday in order to safeguard their staff. They are mainly in the large Dublin hospitals, but hospitals in Cork and Limerick are also seeing a rise.

Source: Irish Independent March 29, 2020 20:48 UTC