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Nearly half of all Covid-19 cases reported by the Health Department have been reported in the past two weeks, as heard in a report tonight.
Professor Philip Nolan, Chairman of the Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group of Ireland, said that 44% of all cases were reported in the last fortnight, and that one in 67 people were told they were positive for Covid-19 in that period.
It comes as the Health Department has reported another 28 Covid-related deaths and 3,955 more cases of the coronavirus.
There are 169 Covid-19 patients treated in intensive care units. There were 154 additional hospitalizations in the last 24 hours.
26 of the deaths reported today occurred in January 2021. The death date of two of the deaths remains under investigation.
Of the cases reported today, 1,826 are men and 2,115 are women. 54% are under 45 years old and the average age is 42 years.
1,210 of the cases are in Dublin, 456 in Cork, 235 in Louth, 221 in Meath, 218 in Limerick and the remaining 1,615 cases are distributed in all other counties.
Today more information has been given about the 208 people who have died so far this month.
“Of these, 23 cases have been linked to outbreaks in hospitals and 38 to outbreaks in nursing homes,” said Dr. Tony Holohan, chief medical officer.
“The ages of those who have died range from 25 to 98. Every death associated with Covid-19 is a tragedy. We must cut our social contacts to break the chains of transmission and protect those most vulnerable to this disease. Stay home and save lives. “
Dr. Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, said that Covid-19 is “having a very significant impact on our healthcare system.”
He urged people to leave home only for essential trips. “We have the power to change the trajectory of disease in our communities.”
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The Chairman of Ireland’s Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, Professor Philip Nolan, said: “From an epidemiological perspective, what we are seeing in this wave is different than what we have seen since the spring, and perhaps worse.
“The penetration of the virus in all ages of the population is a particular cause of grave concern, as is the risk of serious illness faced by all these people. Poor health outcomes, the risk of serious or prolonged illness, and hospitalization they remain a risk for all of us when it comes to Covid-19. That is why we must follow public health advice and protect not only ourselves, but also our hospital system and healthcare personnel by staying home. “
Professor Nolan said there are several outbreaks in long-term residential settings, including nursing homes, and this is cause for concern.
He said the new variant first identified in the UK was almost undetectable until the second week of December. But the incidence increased much later: it accounted for less than 10% of all cases in the second last week of December, but it is 46% this week.
Dr. Cillian De Gascun, medical virologist and director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory said “it is not unusual” for viruses to mutate over time.
“We have identified several different lineages of SARS-CoV-2 in Ireland since the start of the pandemic, and two of the three variants of concern that recently emerged in the UK and South Africa. We also expect more variants to emerge around the world in the next few months.
“While some of the newer variants will increase the risk of infection because they have greater transmissibility, can adhere more and better to surfaces, this does not mean that our continued adherence to public health advice is less effective.”
He appealed to the public: “We must continue to wash our hands, cover our faces when appropriate, maintain our social distance, and continue to comply with public health advice.”
HSE director of acute care hospitals Liam Woods said frontline hospitals and healthcare workers are working under “enormous strain.”
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Earlier this afternoon, 16 Covid-related deaths were reported in Northern Ireland, along with 973 new cases.
There are 850 confirmed coronavirus patients in Northern Ireland hospitals, of whom 58 are being treated in the ICU, 44 of whom are on ventilators.
Meanwhile, the Executive of the Health Service has said that until yesterday a total of 77,303 Covid-19 vaccines have been administered.
In a briefing this afternoon, HSE CEO Paul Reid said 69,378 of them were greeted by frontline healthcare workers and 7,925 were greeted by people at long-term care facilities.
He said Ireland has received 152,100 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to date, along with 3,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
The Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, told Dáil today that the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is on track for approval by the European Medicines Agency on January 29.
Mr Varadkar said that once this happens, it will pave the way for the number of vaccines given here per week to double from 50,000 to 100,000.
Moreover, the Minister of Education has said that schools and some classes that serve children with physical and intellectual disabilities could reopen in a week.
After speaking with union representatives this morning, Education Minister Norma Foley told Dáil that it is a “shared ambition” of both her and the National Organization of Teachers of Ireland (and the Fórsa union that the special schools reopen to students on January 21, as well as special classes for children with disabilities in elementary schools.
Elsewhere, gardaí has said 29 people have received € 100 fines for violating Covid-19 regulations since Monday.
The fines, for violating the 5-kilometer travel restriction for non-essential reasons, were issued in several areas, including three people who traveled 80 km from Co Meath to Ringsend in Dublin for burgers to go.
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