Covid-19: Health Trusts cancel surgeries as Covid admissions rise

The health service in Northern Ireland is operating under "huge pressures", the chief medical officer has said.

Sir Michael McBride has urged people to "use the health service wisely" as more health trusts cancel surgeries.

The Southern Health Trust has had to delay elective orthopaedic lists this week affecting five patients.

Twelve people being treated in the South Eastern Trust area have also been told that procedures scheduled for this week will not go ahead.

Both trusts said they will be offering new dates for patients as soon as possible.

As yet, the Northern Trust has not postponed any operations but says the situation is being kept under daily review.

There are currently 243 people with a confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19 in hospitals across Northern Ireland.

There are currently 29 Covid-19 patients in intensive care beds and official figures also show that 21 of them are on ventilators.

Health Minister Robin Swann said it is "disappointing" but insisted surge plans are aimed at keeping as much activity going as possible.

"What we are trying to do at this minute in time is keep as much of our normal day to day activity running while we cope with the additional Covid patients coming forward," he said.

"So it is putting additional strain on the system.

"We are currently seeing in the past few days that strain in the intensive care which is the speciality care that we do need that takes nurses and specialist staff away from other critical operations and procedures that we have to do at this time."

On Sunday, two healthcare trusts issued an urgent appeal for staff after a "significantly increased demand" for intensive care beds due to Covid-19.

Last week the Belfast Health Trust said they were cancelling 96 operations.

In a statement, the trust said: "This is never a decision we take lightly and reflects the magnitude of the situation we are facing."

Red flag cancer treatments have not been affected by the cancellations.

According to official statistics from the Department of Health, there has been a drop in the seven-day rolling average infection rate.

But with an eight-day lag, the pressure on hospitals is expected to remain for some time.

Sir Michael McBride told BBC News NI it was a "troubling picture".

He also confirmed a number of pregnant women were in hospital after contracting Covid-19.

"I make a special plea to women who are pregnant or are breastfeeding. There is no impediment to you getting your vaccine," he said.

"These are safe vaccines, so say the regulators, in pregnancy, in breast feeding. The best way to protect yourself and your baby is to get your vaccine.

"Yes we are seeing some pregnant women in our maternity units with Covid."

He added that plans are being made for vulnerable 12 to 15-year-olds to be vaccinated.

Another 1,473 positive cases were reported by the Department of Health on Tuesday.

The chief medical officer said that he hoped Covid-19 cases may be peaking, but "we won't know until later this week".

Meanwhile, availability of the department's Covid certification service, CovidCertNI, has been temporarily interrupted due to a "technical difficulty".

The interim system allows fully vaccinated people from Northern Ireland to travel to countries where proof of vaccination is required for entry.

The department said it was "aware that a limited number of users in limited circumstance may be presented with data relating to other users".

"The Department of Health takes the privacy of citizen's data very seriously and contact has been made with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as part of due diligence in protecting citizen's data," it continued.

"Immediate action has also been taken to temporarily remove a part of the service that manages identity."