2 new deaths and 264 confirmed cases when deputy CMO says ‘too early’ to say if there is a new variant of the virus in Ireland

The Department of Health has confirmed 2 more deaths from Covid-19 in Ireland.

264 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Republic in the last 24 hours.

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To date, there have been a total of 2,126 Covid-19 related deaths and 76,449 confirmed coronavirus cases in Ireland.

65 per cent of the cases reported today correspond to people under 45 years of age.

The average age is 36 years.

79 of the current cases are in Dublin, 24 in Donegal, 19 in Kerry, 18 in Limerick, 14 in Kildare, 14 in Wexford, and the remaining 96 cases are spread across 16 other counties.

The number of people fighting the virus in the ICU has risen from two to 33.

NEW VIRUS VARIANT

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy CMO, has said it is “too early” to know if the Covid-19 variant found in the UK is in Ireland.

Speaking at today’s briefing, he said: “There is very little information on [the new variant] at this time and further epidemiological and virological research is underway in the UK.

“Obviously we will be interested in the potential effects of this variant in terms of transmission and in terms of the effects of the immune response.

“But it’s really too early to say whether or not it has such effects, so we really have to wait for more information to come out.

“It is too early to say if the variant has been seen in this country.”

When asked about the likelihood that the Covid-19 vaccine will not work against the new strain of virus discovered, Dr. Glynn said: “It is too early to give people false confidence about that at this point. It would be. pure speculation.

“What I can say with confidence is that if people do all the things that we normally ask them to do, chances are they are protecting themselves just as well from this new strain as they are protecting themselves from the virus that has been. circulating here for the last few months.

“So ultimately, I would ask people not to worry too much about things that are out of our control right now.”

CHRISTMAS CONTACT

Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan urged people to plan ahead for Christmas and limit their social interaction, especially if they meet older family members during the holidays.

Dr. Holohan expressed concern for people traveling between countries during the holiday period.

He said: “Our advice is very simple and very clear at this time, we ask people to avoid all non-essential travel.

“And that means that the people who come here to visit over Christmas, it also means that the Irish who might be planning for the Christmas season take a few days out over Christmas or early New Years, whatever and come back.

“There is a fragility in terms of the situation we find ourselves in. While we have done well to suppress the level of infection in a country compared to other countries, there is no guarantee, there is no accumulated level of immunity in our population that it will prevent us if we see circumstances change in terms of our social contacts, from experiencing the kind of waves of infections that other countries in Europe are having to deal with right now. “

He added that it will be safe for Santa Claus to visit during Christmas, ensuring that he is also taking all necessary steps to stay safe.

Speaking about the launch of the coronavirus vaccine, Dr. Holohan added: “Obviously, vaccines represent a very significant positive development.

“But we have been saying from the beginning, it will not be the end of the measures that are in place, particularly in the course of the next few weeks.

“It’s really important that we maintain the high levels of practice that we have as we begin to implement this vaccine and deliver it to the highest priority groups.”

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