727 confirmed cases and no more deaths

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The Department of Health has confirmed 727 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 80,267.

No more deaths have been reported, meaning the death toll stands at 2,158.

At 2pm today, 241 people were in the hospital with Covid-19. The number of people in the ICU remains unchanged at 29.

Of the cases reported today, 359 are men and 366 women. 62% are under 45 years of age and the median age is 36 years.

Today’s national breakdown of cases is: 311 in Dublin, 51 in Kilkenny, 48 in Wexford, 44 in Donegal, 44 in Cork, and the remaining 229 cases are spread across 19 other counties.

Speaking at a National Public Health Emergency Team briefing tonight, Professor Philip Nolan said: “We are clearly now in a third wave of this pandemic, with a rapidly increasing number of cases.”

The chair of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group said the five-day moving average is 616 cases per day.

Professor Philip Nolan said that the increase in the number of cases is almost certainly related to socialization.

He said the positivity rate is increasing rapidly, showing widespread transmission. It currently stands at 5.2%. He warned that if this continued, Ireland would have more than 900 cases by December 30 and 1,300 by January 6.

Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan said: “This virus is spreading very, very quickly now.”

Dr. Holohan said that it is really important that people stay home and stop socializing.

He said this is not the time to go to restaurants. He said that even though people have planned and thought ahead, now is the time to review and rethink those plans.

Dr Holohan said the advice remains against non-essential travel and those who have arrived here in the last 14 days, or arriving here from the UK, should isolate themselves and get tested, ideally on day 5.

Dr Lorraine Nolan, Executive Director of the Medical Devices Regulatory Authority (HPRA), said at today’s NPHET briefing that the EU Commission’s decision to approve the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine will be legally binding on all member states and thanked those involved for getting to this point.

He said that from a regulatory perspective the work does not stop and the HPRA will continue to collect data on the safety and effectiveness of this vaccine and others that could be approved.

Dr. Nolan said that people will be encouraged to report any side effects so that the safety profile of the vaccine can be maintained.

The director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, Dr. Cillian de Gascun, said that the possibility that the new variant of the virus is in the country cannot be excluded, although there is no evidence of that to date.

In Northern Ireland, another seven deaths from coronavirus have been recorded and 555 additional cases have been diagnosed.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the region now stands at 62,497, with a death toll of 1,203.

The latest figures for the north come as Stormont Education Minister Peter Weir said he will introduce distance learning for secondary schools in Northern Ireland from January 25.

In the Republic, the three leaders of the coalition party will meet tonight to discuss the imposition of stricter restrictions after Christmas.

Sources have indicated that the planned introduction of tougher measures will be brought forward to a date between December 26 and 30.

An announcement will be made after tomorrow’s cabinet meeting.

It is “unlikely” that the current ban on travel from Britain to Ireland will be lifted before Christmas, the Transport Minister said today.

Eamon Ryan said that, sadly, Irish living in Britain will not be able to go home for Christmas.

He said they have to follow the advice that is being given there at the moment, and that the Irish government is saying “there will be no flights, there will be no passenger ferry trips.”

“It’s immediate for the next 48 hours, but it’s unlikely to open before Christmas,” he said.



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