Cork University Hospital (CUH) recorded the second-highest number of patients waiting on trolleys across the country during the last week.

Each day, the hospital recorded dozens of patients waiting for a bed, both at the emergency department (ED) and on wards elsewhere in the hospital. 

On Monday, there were 65 patients waiting on trolleys at CUH, 51 in the ED and a further 14 on wards.

Tuesday saw 52 patients waiting on trolleys, 45 in the ED and seven on wards, while Wednesday saw an increase in the numbers on trolleys with a total of 70 patients recorded waiting for a bed.

Numbers declined on Thursday when 48 patients were recorded on trolleys, 35 in the ED and 13 on wards but increased again on Friday when 57 patients were recorded on trolleys, 51 in the ED and six on wards.

Elsewhere in Cork, there were eight patients on trolleys in the ED at the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) on Friday, and a further two patients waiting on trolleys in West Cork, both of whom were on trolleys on wards at Bantry General Hospital (BGH).

Covid-19 in Cork 

Meanwhile, the number of people hospitalised with Covid-19 in Cork has remained the same over the past seven days.

As of 8pm on Thursday, March 2, there were over nine people hospitalised with Covid-19 at CUH. Six Covid-19 patients were in ICU at the hospital with the virus.

According to the latest HSE Covid-19 Daily Operations Update for Acute Hospitals, there were no Covid-19 admissions recorded at the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) as of Thursday.

Nationally, there are 13 people with the virus in ICU. The number of Covid-confirmed patients who are invasively ventilated is five.

According to the latest data available on the Covid-19 Data Hub, which was last updated on February 28, there were 88 confirmed Covid-19 cases (PCR) in Cork in the 14 days up to midnight on February 27.

The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population up to midnight on February 27 was 16.2.

There has now been a total of 173,956 cases (PCR) of Covid-19 recorded in Cork.