Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
527. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Health if he will commission a study into the reason counties Cavan and Monaghan recorded disproportionately high numbers of confirmed cases of Covid-19; if an interim analysis is available regarding the reason this has been the case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12420/20]
View answerThe Health Service Executive is aware of the high incidence of confirmed cases of COVID-19 notified in Cavan and Monaghan and have observed that a higher proportion of cases in both Cavan and Monaghan are linked to outbreaks compared with national data. Outbreaks have occurred in a variety of settings including nursing homes, acute hospitals, private homes and workplaces such as meat/poultry factories and mushroom farms.
I can assure the Deputy that regional multi-disciplinary outbreak control teams are currently investigating and managing all outbreaks, including those in Cavan and Monaghan.
In addition, I would note that the Health Service Executive has further advised that although the incidence of COVID-19 cases appears high in Cavan and Monaghan, this needs to be interpreted with caution as incidence rates are sensitive to small changes in case numbers due to the relatively small populations under consideration.
