Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 December 2020
697. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Health the criteria the death of a person must meet for the cause of death to be recorded as Covid-19 despite the person having other underlying health issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39910/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) met for the first time, a commitment was given to collect and publish as much relevant data as possible while ensuring individual patient confidentiality is maintained at all times. While the nature and scale of the COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented, the collection of timely and comprehensive data has been instrumental in developing the health service response to Covid-19 and to the advice provided by the NPHET and the Department of Health to assist Government decision-making in the wider response to the disease in Ireland.
It should be noted that in Ireland, data are collected on COVID-19 related mortality for both lab confirmed and probable cases, in line with recommendations from the World Health Organisation and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in both hospitals and the community. It should also be noted that collection of COVID-19 related mortality data in Ireland exceeds that of many other countries in the world.
The Deputy should note that comprehensive national statistics, information, and data about Covid-19 is published on a daily basis on the Department of Health website at https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-health/ and on the Covid-19 Data Hub and Dashboards available at https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/. The published data are based on official figures provided by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) and the Health Service Executive (HSE). All datasets, charts and maps are updated on an on-going basis and in line with newly published data.
I would also direct the Deputy to the CSO website for access to a range of data relating to Covid-19 including the numbers of diagnosed cases and mortality data. This is available on the CSO Covid-19 Information Hub at https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-covid19/covid-19informationhub/ and, in particular, at https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/br/b-cdc/covid-19deathsandcasesseries16/
You may also wish to note that a range of data on the epidemiology of Covid-19 in Ireland is published in the daily report by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) available at: www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/casesinireland/epidemiologyofcovid-19inireland, while a daily report on the last 14 days in cases available at: www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/casesinireland/epidemiologyofcovid-19inireland.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
