A further 102 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been notified to the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), it said on Monday evening. This brings to 29,774 the total number of cases of the disease in the Republic.
No further deaths were reported, leaving the total number of deaths at 1,777. More than half of cases (56) are in Dublin with 11 in Leitrim, 6 in Galway, and 29 cases are located in Carlow, Cavan, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Tipperary, Westmeath and Wexford.
Acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said “We are monitoring with growing concern the number of cases nationally, particularly in Limerick and Dublin. The next seven days are vital; everyone needs to reduce their contacts and assume any person you do meet may be carrying the virus.”
Professor Pete Lunn, head of the ESRI’s Behavioural Research Unit urged people to get outside. “ Make it a habit to get outside, to socialise and exercise safely and automatically physically distance from others. Adapt to covid-responsible behaviours in and out of the home.”
“Plan for the milestones; such as Halloween, Christmas and New Years Eve within a Covid-19 environment. Be innovative in how you can celebrate safely with loved ones.
Meanhile new data shows Ireland has the joint lowest death rate from Covid-19 in Europe at present.
Along with seven other countries, Ireland has a 14-day cumulative death rate of zero per 100,000 population, the latest update from the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) shows.
The other countries with a death rate of zero are Austria, Norway, Finland, Luxembourg, Iceland, Cyprus and Liechtenstein.
There have been no Covid-19 deaths in Ireland since mid-August, largely thanks to the near-elimination of the disease over the summer.
However, with transmission rates increasing again, the incidence of the disease has risen again, to 34.7 cases per 100,000 population, according to the ECDC. Ireland has the 11th highest incidence in Europe.
Separately figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show that more people are being infected with Covid-19 in the health system currently than from overseas travel.
Some 120 people – 51 patients and 69 staff – acquired the virus in a healthcare setting over the past fortnight, the latest report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre shows.
This compares with 118 travel-related cases notified to the HPSC over the period, a figure that includes people who acquired the disease abroad and those who in turn acquired it from them.
A total of 1,717 cases were identified over the 14-day period, of which the largest category was the 872 people who were close contacts of confirmed cases. Some 387 cases involve community transmission, meaning the source of the infection is not known, while 220 cases remain under investigation.
In Dublin, the 14-day incidence of the disease has risen to 60.2 per 100,000 population (811 cases). Kildare and Limerick have higher incidences (66.5 and 61.6) but the incidence in Dublin West is higher still, at 74.
Only five countries in Europe have a higher incidence than this.
While new cases were recorded in all Irish counties, Sligo had fewer than five, giving a country-wide low incidence of 3.1. The national incidence is 36.06.
Over the fortnight, 59 patients were hospitalised and three required admission to ICU. There were 191 cases among healthcare workers.
The HPSC’s latest epidemiological report shows 73 cases occurred among 65-74 year-olds, 54 among 75-84 year-old and 29 among those aged over 85.
No deaths were recorded over the period.
In Northern Ireland, one more coronavirus-related death was reported over the weekend, according to figures released on Monday by the North’s department of health . The total number of fatalities recorded by the department now stands at 565. On Monday 141 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed, bringing the total number of cases identified since the start of the pandemic to 7,868. It is the third day in a row that more than 100 people have tested positive for the virus. In the last seven days 639 new cases of Covid-19 have been identified in the North.
Elsewhere NPHET will this week examine the relaxation of quarantine rules for those diagnosed with Covid-19. Currently, people diagnosed with the disease must self-isolate until they have had no fever for five days and 14 days have elapsed since symptoms first developed.
However, NPHET will this week discuss changing the 14-day rule to 10 days, based on international evidence compiled for it in a paper from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).
The Department of Health will also this week consider NPHET’s recommendations for a plan to manage the pandemic in the medium term, which is set to be launched this month.
Sources said NPHET’s recommendations included moving to a five-stage system of alerts, with three different levels of “orange” alert delineating local lockdowns. Depending on the severity of an outbreak, these could vary from measures to reduce congregations to significant restrictions on movement and economic activity. A numbered system may ultimately be preferred to a colour-coded approach, sources said.
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