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There have been five more deaths and 611 new coronavirus cases confirmed today by the Health Department.
This occurs when the entire country is adjusting to Level 3 restrictions that took effect at midnight last night, and when the Gardaí deployed 132 checkpoints across the country to urge compliance with public health guidelines.
This brings the number of deaths from the virus to 1,816, while the total case count is 39,584.
There have been 218 new cases in Dublin, 63 in Cork, 60 in Donegal, 35 in Galway, 31 in Kildare and the rest
204 are found in 21 counties.
Of the cases reported today; 303 are men and 305 are women; 59 percent are under 45 years old; 50 percent have been confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case and 83 cases have been identified as community transmission.
The 14-day incidence of the virus nationwide has risen from 92 per 100,000 to 124 per 100,000 since Oct. 1, with a five-day average of new cases from 370 to 506.
There have been 3,436 new cases in the past seven days, confirmed Dr. Ronan Glynn.
The positivity rate of the tests has increased from 3 to 4 percent in one week.
Hospitalizations for the virus have risen from 122 to 154 in just six days, the deputy CMO confirmed.
In all of August there were five deaths from Covid-19, in September there were 34 and only in the first five days of October there were eight deaths.
This month at least six new outbreaks have been confirmed in nursing homes and there are at least five outbreaks with more than 20 confirmed cases.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Health Department Medical Director, said: “All key indicators of the disease have deteriorated further in the three days since the last Nphet meeting on Sunday, October 4.
“Covid-19 is spreading in our community in a very worrying way. We have to break these chains of transmission.
“80 cases of Covid-19 were hospitalized in August, 206 in September and 77 so far in October.
“In August, a total of 4 Covid-19 related deaths were reported, 34 in September and today, October 7, we report 8 Covid-19 related deaths this month.”
He added: “I have to convey the seriousness of the situation we find ourselves in. Now we are beginning to see exponential growth in the number of cases. Unless, individually and collectively, we take seriously the message we are conveying, it will be inevitable.
“Get back to the basics of hand washing and face masks. To avoid crowded places … We are trying to raise awareness that we are at an early stage in the number of hospitalizations. We don’t want the fact that the number of hospitals is low compared to the cases to mislead people. “
If this disease continues on the trajectory it is on, it will threaten the continuation of the non-essential medical services currently provided, said Dr. Holohan, who also warned that the blame game of infection is the enemy of women. people come forward and take tests. .
“We are at a different stage than Northern Ireland, but we are not very behind them,” he said.
“This disease does not respect borders.”
“If anything, the level of concern I had on Sunday is less than what I have now,” Dr. Holohan said of the rapid increase in cases across the country.
“All the indicators are going in the wrong direction.”
Professor Philip Nolan, Chairman of Nphet’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, said: “We are in a precarious and rapidly deteriorating position.
“We will see numbers of cases and hospitalizations, which will be a very important challenge for us as a society.”
Professor Nolan’s previous projections showed that if the spread of the virus continues unabated, we will see between 1,600 and 2,300 cases per day in November.
“It has been a long time since we have seen the numbers change so quickly,” he added.
“Periods during the summer when we report one death every five days at the most, now on average we report two deaths a day.
“We saw an additional 1,000 cases per week in just one week.”
Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Medical Director of the Department of Health, said: “The trends in the number of cases and the incidence are now reflected in the indicators of the severity of the disease. The number of people hospitalized has risen from 122 last Thursday to 156 this afternoon. There are currently 25 people in intensive care compared to 20 a week ago. “
Professor Nolan said: “The number of cases and hospitalizations are growing exponentially. The number of breeders is now estimated at 1.2.
“If we fail to reduce viral transmission nationwide immediately, we could see 1,100 to 1,500 cases per day and 300 to 450 people in hospital by November 7.”
He added: “Frankly, the situation is somewhat worse than that. The R number in Dublin is likely to be less than 1.2 and the rest of the country is at 1.5 “.
“The disease is spreading very rapidly and especially outside of Dublin … We simply cannot protect the elderly if the level of the virus in the community continues to rise, and it is, as Dr. Glynn has highlighted.”
Dr. Siobhán Ni Bhriain, HSE Consultant Psychiatrist and Integrated Care Leader: “I urge everyone to remember what they can do individually to suppress the virus and prevent an increase in hospital demands.
“Currently, the average length of stay of a patient with Covid-19 is 20 days in the hospital and 14 days in the ICU.
“The ICU is the last stop on the path of care for any disease. Focus on prevention and follow public health advice to ensure avenues of care are available to as many people and treatments as possible. “
He added that the average length of hospital stay for a non-Covid patient was 5.9 days before the pandemic, highlighting the increased strain the virus causes on the health system.
Meanwhile, Dr. Holohan said that he and Leo Varadkar have spoken since Monday night.
“We exchanged points of view and he and I have a good and long-lasting relationship and we will continue to have it,” he explained.
Dr. Holohan said that he was absolutely satisfied that the air had cleared with the Tánaiste.
On the Tánaiste’s comments that Nphet’s advice was not thoughtful, he said: “In relation to the material we outlined in Sunday’s letter, the concern of where we are was the basis of that letter. We paid a lot of attention to that letter and felt like we had to go to Level 5. “
“I don’t have an opinion on whether the government got it right or wrong, I just look at the numbers,” Professor Nolan said of the government’s decision not to move to Level 5 as recommended.
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