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There have been another 416 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and five more deaths reported on Saturday, according to the National Public Health Emergency Team.
This brings the total number of infections in the Republic to 61,456 and the number of deaths related to the coronavirus to 1,913.
The number of hospitalized overnight continued to fall from 327 to 322. Hospital numbers peaked in the second wave with 354 on October 27. The number of people in intensive care units increases from one to 42.
Of the new confirmed cases until midnight on Friday, 64 percent corresponded to people under 45 years of age, the median age being 34; 186 were men and 230 women.
Some 87 cases were located in Dublin, followed by 62 in Cork, 41 in May and 37 in Galway. The remaining 189 cases were distributed to another 20 counties.
There were 320 coronavirus patients in hospitals as of 2 p.m. Saturday, 41 of whom were in intensive care. There have been 19 hospital admissions in the last 24 hours.
Dr. Tony Holohan, the state’s chief medical officer, said that nationally the R number, which is the rate of reproduction of the virus, has dropped to about 1.
This means that for every person who contracts the disease, they will pass it on to an average of another person, suggesting that the spread of the virus has slowed after the national shutdown.
“We are making progress in suppressing the current increase in Covid-19. Ireland is currently one of only four EU countries with a seven-day reduction in incidence, ”said Dr Holohan.
“We are working collectively to achieve repression, but it is too early to ease our efforts. The incidence is decreasing in young adults, but continues to increase in those older than 75 years. We have more to do, but we are on the right track, “he said.
Cavan still has the highest incidence rate for the disease at 645.9 per 100,000 people, with 492 cases in the past 14 days. Meath has the second highest incidence at 500.9, followed by Westmeath, Sligo, Cork, Galway, and Donegal.
Dublin has the 15th highest incidence rate in the country, with 237.7 per 100,000 inhabitants and 3,203 cases in the last 14 days.
Meanwhile, young people have cut their contacts in half in recent weeks, leading to a significant drop in Covid-19 infections, according to Dr. Mary Favier of the National Public Health Emergency Team.
Dr. Favier said that there has been a noticeable change in behavior among young people and that the general public had reduced their close contacts. Furthermore, the ban on visiting other homes is already having a beneficial effect, he added.
He said the number of contacts the average teen who tested positive has dropped from 20 six weeks ago to 12 a fortnight ago and now to six.
“Young people have been vilified and have been the subject of many very negative messages. We have come much further. They have lost a lot and they have more to lose, ”he said.
Dr Favier, who is a Covid-19 advisor to the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), told The Irish Times that close contacts in the general population dropped from six to three, which means that most of the close contacts are now people from the same household.
“We are in most of the nine days with the restrictions. We are now seeing a real tightening in terms of people’s contact levels, ”he said. “We know from previous experiences in March that that’s what really makes a difference.”
However, he warned that while the number of Covid-19 infections in young people is decreasing, it is increasing in those over 65, who are the most affected by the disease.
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