A number of planned surgeries have been postponed in Derry because of Covid-related pressures.
The Western Trust said it had experienced a “sudden increase” in Covid-19 cases at Altnagelvin hospital over the last 48 hours.
A total of 27 elective procedures due to be carried out on Thursday and Friday have been rescheduled.
The trust has also now implemented its initial Covid surge plan.
“Patients that require hospital admission with Covid-19 have risen sharply in recent days and presently we have 20 positive Covid-19 patients in Altnagelvin,” the trust’s Geraldine McKay said.
A further two patients have been admitted to the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen, bringing the total to six.
“This number is a considerable rise compared with the small number of cases in our hospitals last week and we would note these numbers are fluid and can change daily,” Mrs McKay added.
She said the trust had rescheduled 12 elective procedures due to be carried out at the Derry hospital and a further 15 surgeries could also no longer go ahead because of a reduction in surgical capacity.
“We apologise to the 27 patients in total who have been affected,” Mrs McKay added.
She said services were also being affected by an increasing rate of community transmission.
The Derry City and Strabane District Council area currently has NI’s highest Covid-19 infection rate.
According to the NI Department of Health’s latest figures, the seven-day infection rate in Derry and Strabane was 374.1 per 100,000 people.
On Wednesday, the trust revealed it had administered more than 200,000 vaccine doses since the roll-out began six months ago.
“However, even with this great news, we cannot afford to be complacent,” Teresa Molloy, the trust’s vaccine programme director said.
“Everyone who takes up both doses of the vaccination is helping keep their family, friends and the wider community safe from the worst effects of Covid and helping us all to move towards getting life back to some degree of normality”.
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