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Another three deaths and 1,167 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the Republic, while the North recorded five deaths and 1,039 new cases.
There have now been a total of 1,868 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland and the number of confirmed cases is now 53,422.
Of the cases reported today, 538 are men and 627 women, while 64% are under 45 years of age. The average age is 33 years.
The highest number of new cases was recorded in Dublin, with 263. Meath recorded 142 cases, while there were 137 in Cork and 86 in Cavan. The remaining 539 cases are spread across all the remaining counties.
A total of 314 patients with Covid-19 are hospitalized, of which 34 are in the ICU. In the last 24 hours, there were 27 additional hospitalizations.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, said Wednesday night: “Each individual’s behavior is the most effective defense we have against the spread of Covid-19.
“Everyone needs to stay home, except for essential reasons. Follow public health advice and treat everyone you come in contact with as if they were a close contact of someone with Covid-19 – keep your distance, avoid meeting other people.
“We face a great challenge, but we have faced it before, and that means we know how to suppress this virus, following public health advice in everything we do.”
Earlier, it was learned that the government fears public health officials will seek another lockdown in January after restrictions are eased for a few weeks over Christmas, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.
Members of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) suggested that infections would increase during December once restrictions are lowered, necessitating a return to Level 5 in the new year. This was a scenario discussed at Saturday’s meeting between the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, ministers, and Nphet officials.
The suggestions are at odds with the exit strategy agreed upon within the government, which provides for the lifting of Level 5 measures if the Covid-19 reproduction number falls below 1 and cases are falling “consistently”.
Ministers hope it will be possible to move to Level 4 restrictions earlier than planned in the six-week lockdown that will begin at midnight on Wednesday.
A regional or local approach can also be taken, so that individual counties can escape the lockdown if their numbers improve, a government source said.
The reproduction number (or “R0”) is a measure of the extent of transmission of a virus. An R0 greater than one means that the disease is spreading more; one less than one means the epidemic is disappearing.
Professor Philip Nolan, an official with the National Public Health Emergency Team, said Monday that the breeding number would have to drop to 0.5 and stay there for six weeks for the shutdown to be a success. Even with this approach, officials expected 200 cases a day by the end of December.
Rapid intervention
Speaking on RTÉ radio on Wednesday, Professor Nolan said a further lockdown in the New Year could not be ruled out.
“A lot depends on how people behave; I don’t like to use the word “behave”, but it is the only way to express it. People realize that now there is a problem. “
He said that Taoiseach Micheál Martin was right when he spoke about the matter in the Dáil on Tuesday.
“It is important to be honest with people. If, after December and January, case levels rise and, in particular, rise rapidly, we may need to intervene again.
“If we intervene early, that intervention may be shorter, but how much time we buy ourselves and how long it could really happen depends on our individual behaviors and how strong our public health departments are.”
Answering questions in the Dáil, Mr. Martin confirmed that the issue of the return to the restrictions in January had been discussed with public health officials.
“Nphet informed us on Saturday that if we work through this for six weeks, we can get to a position, hopefully early December, where we can reopen, but that in the new year we may have to consider more restrictions again. to keep control of the virus until we get a vaccine, “he said.
Martin also told TDs: “I anticipate periods of high-level restrictions followed by low-level restrictions and, if necessary, followed by high-level restrictions again if the virus spreads during the reopening phase.”
A return to Level 5 restrictions would depend on how events unfold and how people behave in the coming weeks and months, especially around Christmas when socializing is likely to increase. If an increase in cases follows the relaxation of the lockdown, Nphet is likely to recommend measures in early January, based on the premise that acting earlier would mean a shorter lockdown period.
The National Public Health Emergency Team yesterday reported another 13 deaths of people with Covid-19, the highest daily number since the end of May. Nphet also reported another 1,269 confirmed cases of the disease.
The 14-day incidence is now at a record 279 cases per 100,000 people; Cavan has the highest incidence in the county, at 909.7.
People should stay home for the next six weeks of Level 5 restrictions “as long as possible,” unless they have an exceptional reason not to, said Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan. He described a recent increase in cases among those over 65 as “concerning.”
It was “really important” to push cases “as low as possible” during the Level 5 restriction period, although achieving “Covid zero” was not realistic, Dr. Holohan said at the briefing.
Lowering the R0 to about 0.5 would allow for a “more controlled experience” with lower levels of infection. However, “if we are not on the right track, we will have to consider what that means.”
“Yes, people are tired, yes, people are frustrated, yes, acceptance is a challenge, yes, some of the measures are different than the first time, but none of that is a reason to believe that we cannot achieve this if we all work together, ”he said.
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