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Two other people diagnosed with coronavirus have died and 814 new cases have been reported, the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) said on Sunday.
Sunday’s figures bring to 1,826 the number of people who have died from the disease in the Republic of Ireland with a total of 42,528 confirmed cases in the state since the start of the pandemic.
Of the cases on Sunday, 432 are men and 381 women, 70 percent are under 45 years old, while the average age is 32 years. A total of 226 of the cases are in Dublin, 77 in Cork, 64 in Galway, 56 in Donegal, 48 in Meath and the remaining 343 cases are spread across all the remaining counties.
As of 2 p.m. Sunday, 204 Covid-19 patients are hospitalized, of whom 30 are in the ICU with an additional 16 hospitalizations in the last 24 hours, Nphet said in its daily update.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Medical Director, said: “It is vital that the entire population consistently implement public health advice in their daily lives; Keep your social contacts to an absolute minimum and maintain physical distance when you need to be away from home.
“Twenty-two of the 26 counties have seven-day incidence rates as a percentage of 14-day incidence rates greater than 50%. This shows rapidly increasing growth rates across the country. “
On Saturday, Nphet reported 1,012 new cases of the disease. This was the highest number of cases in a single day since the height of the pandemic on April 15, when 1,068 were recorded.
Over the weekend, public health officials issued severe warnings about the spread of Covid-19 and the number of people hospitalized with the disease passed 200. At 8 a.m. on Sunday, there were 201 hospitalized Covid-19 patients, of which 30 were in the ICU. . As of 8pm Saturday night there were 198 confirmed cases in Irish hospitals and 103 suspected cases. According to the HSE daily operational update, of the confirmed cases, the highest number (22) was in Cavan, followed by Beaumont (21), Tallaght (18) and Cork University Hospital (15).
Previously, Taoiseach Micheál Martin asked the public to change their behaviors so that “we can make Level 3 work, protect lives and livelihoods” and stop the spread of Covid-19.
Martin said in a statement on Sunday that the move to Level 3 implied a tightening of coronavirus restrictions on people and society, particularly affecting the hotel sector.
“Covid-19 is a challenge for the countries of Europe and the world,” he said.
“The next few weeks will be challenging, but working with Nphet, we will respond firmly and appropriately. We have the capacity and resources to overcome this and we will.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said that “over the next few days and weeks the numbers are going to get worse” for Covid-19.
“New cases are doubling every 16 days,” Donnelly said on RTÉ radio’s This Week in Politics program on Sunday. At the height of the pandemic, the rate doubled every five to six days.
Donnelly said it was important “not to look at a particular day, but at trends.”
The reproduction number or R0 for the country is 1.2. Dublin has a virus reproduction rate of 1. He said that “an additional boost for Dublin could produce positive results for Dublin.”
And he added: “The R0 for the rest of the country is 1.6, which is very high and that is why we are at Level 3 for the country.”
“Initial indications in Dublin are positive and now we have the opportunity to work together to say that we are going to accept this.”
Airports
Donnelly said the state also plans to introduce coronavirus testing at airports as part of a possible alternative to quarantine for some arriving passengers, though it’s unclear when capacity will be ready.
Airlines Ryanair and Aer Lingus have harshly criticized the government for imposing some of the strictest travel restrictions in Europe, with 14-day quarantines recommended for almost all incoming travelers.
When asked about the Tánaiste’s suggestion of a “circuit breaker” lockout, which is a brief national lockout, Donnelly said “it is not being considered now.”
He said: “This week’s numbers are not a reflection of whether we should be on the so-called circuit breaker.”
Donnelly said that some time ago Singapore tested the level 5 circuit breaker for about three months and it seemed to have worked. Israel is the only country that is now at Level 4 and the signs are positive.
“The fact that levels 4 and 5 are in frame is implicit that at some point we might have to go there,” but he said they weren’t considering it now, “he said.
Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan said Saturday night: “I am very concerned about the numbers we are seeing and how quickly they are deteriorating.
“All the important indicators of the disease are deteriorating. For example, there has been a steady increase in test positivity over the past week. The positivity rate of the test as of midnight on Friday, October 9, was 6.2 percent, which has more than doubled in less than fifteen days.
“The number of cases is increasing in all age groups and across the country.”
‘Circuit breaker’
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that a “circuit breaker” … “might well be necessary at some point,” he wrote in the Sunday Independent.
“I know some say that a circuit break could save Christmas. I am not that sure. The problem is that when you are completely blocked it is difficult to get out of there, ”he wrote.
On Monday, the government rejected the Nphet’s advice to move the country into a national blockade for four weeks. Rather than choosing to put the country on Level 3 of its Living with Covid-19 plan, which involves restrictions on restaurants, pubs, and movement between counties.
Senior medical leaders believe that while the hospital system faces challenges, it is not overwhelmed at this stage, said the chief of the Health Services Executive (HSE).
Paul Reid said the HSE clinical director, as well as top consultants across the country in critical care and emergency medicine, had informed him as of Sunday morning that hospitals were “coping.”
He said his advice was that the situation was “continuously monitored.”
Mr Reid told RTÉ on Sunday that the advice to him was that “the system has not been overwhelmed at this time.”
He said that the situation could change very quickly and should be carefully monitored.
“Ultimately, I will take my lead from our senior consultants and how they are describing it right now.”
Mr. Reid said that senior management at HSE would be analyzing the situation in the hospitals, site by site, Monday morning.
The HSE chief said that the health service wanted to see 1,400 additional beds, which had already been introduced temporarily at the beginning of this year or which, under the new winter plan, promised to “remain for the next year”. He said this was being discussed as part of current financial estimates before next week’s budget.
Reid said that the HSE in the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic had installed around 800 additional beds: 400 in level four hospitals and 400 in level two hospitals.
He said that under the winter plan 590 more beds would be provided.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil’s State Minister for Higher Education Niall Collins said the government would consider moving other counties where the virus continues to spread rapidly, such as Donegal, to stricter levels under the plan.
“The numbers are going in the wrong direction, they are stabilizing in Dublin with that said, so let’s see how it goes in the next few days,” he said on RTÉ’S This Week.
“If we have to go to different levels for different counties, of course, that is a consideration that can be taken, or if we have to move the whole country up one or two levels, that will be a decision, which will be made in con the best advice “.
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