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Another 430 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the state, while the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) reported no additional deaths on Sunday.
It’s the highest number of cases in a day since 701 were reported, on April 26.
Dublin had the highest number of cases with 212. Cork had 54, and Donegal and Galway each had 23. There were 16 cases in Louth, 15 in Monaghan, 12 in Clare and Meath, nine in Cavan, eight in Roscommon, seven in Wicklow , six in Limerick and five in Kildare and Tipperary each. The remaining 23 cases were spread across nine counties.
To date, a total of 34,990 cases of the virus have been confirmed in Ireland since the end of February, while the total number of deaths is now 1,802.
Men account for 222 of Sunday’s cases, while women account for 208. People under 45 years of age account for 72% of cases.
Outbreaks or close contacts of a confirmed case account for 40% of cases, while 59 have been identified as examples of community transmission.
Acting Medical Director Dr. Ronan Glynn said the situation would get worse unless people made plans to reduce their contacts.
“As we begin this new week, I ask every household in the country to sit together tonight and make a plan to reduce the number of people who meet this week,” he said.
“We have absolutely no room for complacency. If every person, family, workplace and organization doesn’t do their part, the situation will continue to deteriorate. “
He made a special call for vigilance on the part of those who lived in Dublin and Donegal.
“For people living in Donegal and Dublin, remember, the government’s advice is to work from home unless it is essential to attend in person. For people who live in these and all other counties, please assume that Covid-19 is circulating in your community and act accordingly. “
‘Cautiously optimistic’
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said that he and the acting medical director are “cautiously optimistic” about how Dublin is doing with Level 3 restrictions, but “it is still too early.”
He said they needed the seven-day incidence rate of the virus to be less than half the 14-day rate.
Currently, the 14-day rate is 147 cases per 100,000 population, while the seven-day rate is 78 per 100,000.
“We want to see that seven-day rate less than half the 14-day rate.”
Dublin is in the 10th day of three weeks of Level 3 restrictions, which the government had warned could be extended if the spread of the virus could not be contained.
He said there were no plans for any emergency meetings of the National Public Health Emergencies Team (NPHET) ahead of their weekly meeting on Thursday. However, he was taking a closer look at four other counties: Cork, Galway, Louth, and his own constituency of Wicklow.
Northeast Kildare, he added, has a rate of 330 cases per 100,000, which is about four times the national average. This was demonstrated in the publicly available data center for Covid-19, the map of each electoral area, showing where the virus is spreading.
Donnelly said on RTÉ’s This Week show that they needed the virus’s reproduction rate, or R, the rate at which those infected transmit it to others, to be below one. The rate is currently between 1.5 and 1.6, he said.
The minister said that “we have 110 hospitalized people and 18 people in intensive care” with the coronavirus.
He stressed that the state will continue to do everything possible, but said the most powerful message was to “think of all the people you plan to meet this week and cut that number in half.”
When asked about the government’s effectiveness in getting its message across about house parties and other private gatherings, Donnelly said the “vast majority” of people adhere to the regulations.
He said there were incidents of house parties and gatherings that exceeded the rules, but that “it is not the norm.” These events stood out because they were available for everyone to see on social media.
“The evidence we have is that the vast majority of people are doing the right thing,” he added.
He said the recent closure at Kildare, Laois and Offaly showed that “when we move early,” we move forward.
Donnelly said authorities were very concerned about the number of beds, with some hospitals already nearly full. He said that was why they had introduced the winter plan two months earlier with the provision of nearly 600 additional emergency beds and additional investment in community supports to keep people at home.
He added that the HSE is negotiating with each private hospital individually for services. They are looking for “rapid response capacity” and additional capacity to treat public patients in private hospitals.
Earlier, infectious disease consultant Professor Sam McConkey said that government restrictions on movements might not be necessary if people voluntarily change their behavior to combat the spread of Covid-19, “I think if people in Cork, where it is increasing, it will change its socialization voluntarily for two or four weeks, “then” you would not need legislation and strict and harsh restrictions “.
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