The staff at the departments of Public Health in the South East and Mid-West have had their hard work throughout the pandemic recognised with HSE Excellence Awards.
Since March of 2020, both departments have intervened in thousands of Covid outbreaks saving lives with management, tracking, tracing and preventing further transmission.
Director of Public Health Mid-West, Dr Mai Mannix says this award recognises how hard everyone has worked throughout the pandemic:
“We are delighted to receive this award. It is an award for every single person who has worked with us since the start of the pandemic.
“Our doctors, nurses, surveillance team, contact tracers, and admin team have all played a role in saving lives in every community across the Mid-West region.
“In receiving this award, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the public for doing their utmost to protect themselves and each other over the past two years. It has not been easy, but the people of Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary have shown they are true leaders of their community.
“But our work is far from over, as we are closely monitoring the evolving epidemiological situation across the three counties.
“While restrictions have been lifted and the level of serious illness and death is declining, we have seen more than 16,500 PCR-confirmed cases over the past two weeks in the region.
“Sickness and Long COVID are still possibilities where there is widespread transmission, which is why we urge people to avail of their boosters, or their third and fourth dose if they are immunocompromised.
“We also note that around 5% of people aged 12 and older have yet to be fully-vaccinated.
“The unvaccinated cohort is most at risk of serious illness, but it is never too late for your first dose or to be fully-vaccinated.”
Dr. Carmel Mullaney, Director of Public Health South East, said: “It’s a great honour to have our work recognised. It has been a very challenging time, as we worked with a constantly changing situation and evolving disease. We had to innovate and change as the pandemic progressed, to continue to provide services much needed by the public. Notwithstanding the pain, suffering and grief some people went through, our team worked to protect the health of our communities throughout Tipperary and across the south east.
“Many members of the HSE were re-deployed to support the work of the Department of Public Health as case numbers rose and the work of contact tracing and managing outbreaks of Covid-19 increased daily.
