Today, March 10th, marks one year since Covid-19 was confirmed in Waterford.
During that time 5,216 people have been diagnosed with the virus and sadly 90 people have died here.
It's one year to the day that the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Waterford.
https://www.wlrfm.com/2020/03/10/coronavirus-first-case-confirmed-in-waterford/
A man who was an inpatient in Medical Ward 7 was tested for the virus.
He was then transferred to an isolation room in the Pine Ward, in the new Dunmore Wing, specifically opened to facilitate the isolation and care of patients either suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
By the end of March there were 38 cases in Waterford. Two weeks later, on the 14th of April it had reached 100.
It would be another four and a half months, on the 2nd of September, before the total hit 200.
In fact, there were 30 days in-a-row during July and August when there were no cases at all recorded in Waterford.
Autumn/Winter
But the numbers rose steadily during September, partly due to increased testing and a significant outbreak at a meat factory. The numbers levelled off during the month before rising again in October.
By the 16th of October, the total number of cases recorded since the outbreak began reached 500, it had doubled to 1000 within six weeks.
However, the worst was still to come.
The numbers of confirmed cases began to rise rapidly after Christmas.
The highest number of cases in any one day in Waterford was on the 8th of January, 513 new cases were confirmed by the National Public Health Emergency Team.
There was a large outbreak in the Tramore area. Speaking to WLR at the time, local GP Austin Byrne said rough estimates indicated that around 1 in 20 people in Tramore had the virus at the start of January.
https://www.wlrfm.com/2021/01/04/tramore-covid-19-cases-dramatically-swell/
Hospital pressure
University Hospital Waterford was put under severe pressure.
For 17 days in a row staff were caring for in excess of 100 patients with the virus.
It peaked at 127 on the 24th of January.
Consultant pathologist Dr Rob Landers told WLR at the time that the critical care unit was in surge capacity he said the high number of deaths has been 'traumatic' and that the hospital was using the temporary refrigeration capacity at the mortuary.
https://www.wlrfm.com/2021/02/04/uhw-pathologist-says-high-numbers-of-covid-deaths-at-the-hospital-has-been-traumatic/
Speaking to WLR this week (March 7th), Grace Rothwell General Manager of University Hospital Waterford says the weeks after Christmas were completely overwhelming, however, the situation has improved drastically.
The 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 in Waterford has fallen to its lowest level since the 19th of December. It's now 97.3 (figure correct as of March 9th).
The rate in Waterford peaked at 2,058 cases per 100,000 people on the 16th of January, it has fallen by 95 per cent since then.
A mass vaccination centre has also been constructed at the WIT arena, it has the potential to inoculate 40 people every 10 minutes once it's fully operational and will be running 7-days a week.
https://www.wlrfm.com/2021/03/08/mass-vaccination-clinic-set-up-at-the-wit-arena-in-waterford/
Listen back to Sinead's report on Deise Today here:
Meanwhile, you can listen back to the full Deise Today from this morning by clicking below here...
