Ms Susan Cliffe:

In regard to the notifications we received about Covid-positive residents and staff, the breakdown was 80:20 in line with the breakdown of the make-up of the sector. There were 2,617 residents notified to us as having contracted Covid-19, of whom approximately 2,000 were in the private sector and 545 in the public sector. When I refer to the "public" sector, I mean the centres that are run by the HSE or funded by the HSE through section 38 and section 39 arrangements. Similar numbers are available for staff. In regard to the centres impacted by Covid, 77% were private and 23% were public such that the incidence broke down in line with the make-up of the sector. Ms Dunnion is correct in saying that Covid in the nursing homes followed Covid in the general population. It was for this reason nursing homes in key areas had higher levels of Covid than nursing homes in Cork-Kerry region, for example.