TENTS erected at the Mercy University Hospital at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak are being removed.

In April, the Defence Forces helped to erect marquees adjacent to the hospital as part of the Mercy’s Covid-19 preparedness plan.

The hospital, like many others around the country, has been reconfigured in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, and it was initially envisaged that the tents would maximise the hospital’s site capability by providing necessary physical distancing space for staff and emergency department patient flow.

The hospital is now, however, in the process of regularising the temporary emergency department accommodation into more permanent structures.

This week, the Defence Forces again came onsite to help remove the tents as plans progress for more permanent structures to be put in their place.

A spokesperson for the hospital said portable buildings will instead be erected at the facility.

“These will offer additional clinical capacity to the hospital's emergency department by way of providing additional waiting areas, triage rooms and assessment/treatment cubicles,” they said.

The spokesperson added: “Mercy University Hospital would also like to extend our gratitude to the Defence Force for the assistance they offered to the hospital during the acute phase of Covid.” 

The Defence Forces have played a significant role in the Covid-19 response in Cork since the beginning of the outbreak.

The Naval Service Flagship LÉ Eithne was deployed to Cork city for more than three months and Defences Forces members have, amongst other things, assisted with the establishment and `set up` of mobile testing centres, manufactured personal protective equipment (PPE) `visors` for healthcare workers in conjunction with `Benchspace`, and the provided personnel to assist with Covid-19 swabbing at testing centres in Cork.