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The number of people infected with Covid-19 is expected to continue to rise in the coming days and the issue of further restrictions in Dublin and other counties will be considered later this week and early next week.
Sources familiar with the discussions between public health experts and political decision-makers say the government is in a “waiting game” to see if the number of infections in Dublin stabilizes by the middle of next week.
Otherwise, more restrictions for the capital are likely to be considered, they confirm.
The numbers will be closely monitored in various counties over the next few days, and Kildare will be a particular concern, it is understood, as officials and ministers consider extending the Level 3 restrictions currently in place in Dublin. Officials say they are particularly concerned about Louth, Waterford, Limerick, Kildare, Leitrim, Donegal, Offaly and Wicklow.
At a Covid-19 briefing in government buildings on Monday, Taoiseach Department Deputy Secretary General Liz Canavan said there are now “worrying trends in most areas.”
Concerns about the hospital admission rate are also mounting, with even a relatively low number of Covid-19 cases disrupting normal procedures.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) reported an additional 188 confirmed cases of the virus on Monday night, 76 of them in Dublin.
This brings to 33,121 the total number of cases linked to the virus in the Republic. No new deaths were reported, leaving the total number of deaths at 1,792.
Of Monday’s cases, 25 are in Cork, 21 in Donegal, 16 in Kildare, 13 in Galway, seven in Roscommon and seven in Waterford, with the remaining 23 cases spread across 12 counties.
Men represent 96 cases and women 90 – in two cases gender data was not included – while 71% are under 45 years of age.
19 cases were identified as community transmission and 36% are associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case.
The number of Covid-19 patients in the hospital increased from 79 to 88 from Saturday to Sunday, when there were 10 new admissions. The number of patients in intensive care remained static at 16.
Public support
As the number of infected people grows, public fears about a second wave of coronavirus and support for tighter restrictions have risen this month, according to public opinion research published by the Health Department.
Research conducted last week and released Monday night shows that the numbers in favor of new restrictions surpassed those opposing such a measure in recent weeks, reaching more than half (52%) of all respondents. . The number of those who opposed more restrictions fell to less than a third (29 percent), which means that a significant majority of those who expressed their opinion are in favor of new restrictions.
There has been a similar movement in recent weeks in the number of people who believe that the measures introduced by the Government are “insufficient”: it increased from 30% to 39% during the period in question. More than half of the people (54%) say that the response has been adequate; only 7 percent say it has been too extreme. Almost half of those surveyed (47%) say that the worst is “ahead of us.”
Levels of concern in the population are similar to those seen at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in April, the research says.
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