Dáil debates
Tuesday, 24 November 2020
Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
2:30 pm
Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source
Our job is to make decisions based on evidence. The Taoiseach should not allow himself to be fobbed him off and told the output from the CRM system is being used because it is not. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre is using data from a laboratory reporting system that was never designed for this pandemic. Hospital-based occupational health doctors and some public health doctors investigating outbreaks do not use the CRM so many other health-related outbreaks are not entered on it. We are still seeing a huge number of cases associated with hospitals and care homes, involving both patients and staff. From my investigations, I have learned Covid is spreading in these settings and spilling over from staff into communities. I understand that 12 hospitals currently have restrictions on elective procedures because of Covid outbreaks. If we were to use the data we have, it would allow the Taoiseach to tell the people with authority what they need to do to control this virus.
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