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The prospect of tighter Covid-19 restrictions looms after a worrying daily number of new Covid-19 cases, the biggest increase since May.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) will review yesterday’s peak of 217 people newly diagnosed with the virus today. The meeting of experts will judge whether it is necessary to intensify additional measures at the local or national level to keep the spread of the virus under control.
The number of new infections follows the lifting of restrictions in Kildare and confirmation that local closures have worked.
Of the new infections, 103 were in Dublin, one of the hardest-hit counties, but this is seen in light of the capital’s higher population density.
There were 25 new cases in Kildare, 17 in Limerick, 17 in Tipperary, seven in Waterford, seven in Wicklow, six in Clare, five in Louth and the remaining 30 are in Carlow, Cavan, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kilkenny, Meath , Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Westmeath and Wexford. No new deaths were reported.
Acting Medical Director Dr. Ronan Glynn said: “While the number of cases is the highest daily figure reported since May, the five-day moving average remains relatively stable at 115 cases per day. This is still a substantial number. of cases “.
“I urge everyone to redouble your efforts now: wash your hands regularly, physically remove yourself from others, wear face covers when appropriate, avoid crowded areas, know the symptoms, isolate, and communicate with your GP if has any concerns. “
More than half of the reported cases are related to outbreaks or close contacts of a confirmed case, which means they can be traced to a source, helping public health physicians in their attempt to control the spread.
However, 19 of the new cases are due to community transmission, meaning the source could not be found, making the spread difficult to manage.
Seven out of 10 of the new cases correspond to people under 45 years of age.
The closest number of cases to this level occurred in mid-August, when 200 newly diagnosed infections were reported.
Maynooth University Professor Philip Nolan, a member of Nphet and leader of a team tracking the virus, indicated that meeting restrictions will continue for a few months.
It means that the pattern of confining groups to six people indoors and 15 outdoors will continue.
This will have an impact on hotel functions as well as private homes.
Meanwhile, BreastCheck, the national breast cancer screening program, may not return until October. The detection program has been stopped since March 16 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The HSE said the hiatus was established to protect patients and staff by adhering to social distancing guidelines.
Additionally, the HSE temporarily reallocated staff and resources to responding to the Covid-19 crisis.
“However, clinical staff have continued to work within the program,” the HSE said.
“BreastCheck has continued to support symptomatic breast services at its host hospitals, providing care, diagnosis, treatment and surgery to patients who have been referred for symptomatic service.”
BreastCheck is projected to resume in September or October of this year.
“Invitations will be sent first to those who were to be screened during the pause period, starting with those who have been waiting the longest.
“Routine screening invitations will be issued later, in phases,” the HSE said.
“Due to Covid-19 restrictions, services will not be operating at full capacity. The resumption of detection services will be based on the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
When the selection is reset, the HSE “will ensure that all parts of the system have sufficient capacity to process the test volume.”
“We are taking security measures to protect both patients and staff, such as social distancing measures and face covering,” he said.
“This will mean that appointments will take longer and it may also take longer to get an appointment. We will continue to follow public health guidelines. The health and safety of our patients and staff is our priority.”
BowelScreen restarted the issuance of invitations for screening to eligible individuals on a rolling basis on August 4.
“Our lab is processing and reporting the complete kits. All endoscopy units are scheduling BowelScreen colonoscopies.”
On the other hand, a study from the British Medical Journal says that pregnant women seen in hospitals with Covid-19 are less likely to show symptoms and appear to have a higher risk of needing to be admitted to an intensive care unit than non-pregnant women from similar age.
They are also more likely to experience preterm delivery and their newborns to be admitted to a neonatal unit.
Irish independent
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