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The Health Department has been notified of 318 new cases of Covid-19, with one more confirmed death.
There have now been a total of 2,023 deaths in Ireland, with 70,461 confirmed coronavirus cases.
There are 282 patients in the hospital with Covid-19 and the number of ICU patients dropped from one to 31.
There have been 17 additional hospitalizations in the last 24 hours.
Of the cases reported today, 155 are men and 161 women.
The department said 73% of current cases are under 45, with a median age of 28.
The regional breakdown shows that 126 cases in Dublin, 45 in Cork, 28 in Limerick, 21 in Donegal, 18 in Kildare and the remaining 80 cases are spread over 18 other counties.
Ireland’s 14-day incidence rate has now dropped 109.1.
In Northern Ireland, there have been ten more deaths from Covid-19 today, six of which occurred in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 933.
Today another 342 new cases have been confirmed, bringing the total number of positive tests to 49,784.
The seven-day infection rate per 100,000 in Northern Ireland is 162.3.
The Mid Ulster council area has the highest rate at 233.9, followed by Derry City and Strabane at 217.7. The council area with the lowest seven-day rate is Ards and North Down at 87.6.
Earlier, the Minister of State for the Department of Agriculture said there would be no free two-week holiday for everyone at Christmas.
However, Sen. Pippa Hackett said the government wants everyone to have a meaningful Christmas where people can celebrate together.
His comments come as discussions continue this weekend about a departure from Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions.
Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, Ms Hackett said that the current Covid numbers are concerning and that the government’s action will be based on advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team.
He appealed to people to redouble their efforts to reduce the number of infections.
Minister of State of the Department of Agriculture @pippa_hackett He says # COVID-19 the figures are disappointing and worrying. Going lower is a risk and the government needs to see what advice NPHET gives next week and act accordingly. #rtetwip #artpolitics pic.twitter.com/5wfwZXeeQi
– The week of politics (@rtetwip) November 22, 2020
Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn told The Week in Politics that the hospitality and retail sector has made big sacrifices, but that Covid-19 numbers need to be lowered as much as possible.
He said the government should be frank with business.
.@PadraigMacL SF TD says the government must be frank with all business sectors in the run-up to Christmas and ensure that financial support is there to keep these businesses afloat and ensure that next year they can continue. #rtetwip pic.twitter.com/4x0UbcQJjL
– Politics week (@rtetwip) November 22, 2020
Meanwhile, Labor TD Ged Nash said the newspaper reports are probably a good prediction of where the government is.
Nash said it was inevitable that we would see trips across the country at Christmas, but the government needs to make sure the decision is based on evidence.
He said that we are currently nowhere near the numbers we should be.
.@geraldnash @work The spokesperson says that decisions made by the government must be based on evidence. He says expert and public health advice should be taken seriously because we’re nowhere near where we should be with # COVID-19 figures. #rtetwip #artpolitics pic.twitter.com/rZHeczFR9N
– The week of politics (@rtetwip) November 22, 2020
Independent TD Denis Naughten said we only have “educated guesses” at the moment and need to remove level 5.
Mr. Naughten said that we have to look at all the information and analyze it to see what works in terms of restrictions.
.@DenisNaughten Independent TD says the government has to remove the 5-tier restrictions that are in place. He says the government must analyze the data to see what works and what doesn’t in terms of constraints. #rtetwip #artpolitics pic.twitter.com/hm1HrpH9T4
– The week of politics (@rtetwip) November 22, 2020
He said we should stop monitoring the test results for Covid-19 and look at the admission rate to the ICU.
Covid-19 Cases Could Escalate Rapidly In Crowded Indoor Environments, Says Henry
A member of the National Public Health Emergency Team warns that Covid-19 cases could escalate very quickly in crowded indoor environments.
Dr. Colm Henry’s comments come amid calls from pubs and restaurants for inland services to resume next month, when Level 5 restrictions are lowered.
The HSE Clinical Director said: “The virus tends to thrive in poorly ventilated indoor congregated environments.
“Regardless of the purpose behind it, those crowded indoor environments where people are very close together encourage the transmission of the virus in a way that can really lead to the numbers increasing very quickly and our general situation deteriorating.”
It also calls on people to “redouble their efforts” to reduce the number of Covid cases and comply with public health measures.
Dr. Henry said that the decisions we all make, regarding compliance with public health measures, will determine the options available to all of society, not only for Christmas, but also for January and February.
“We ask everyone to redouble their efforts regarding compliance with these measures so that we have more options available when Level 5 comes to an end,” he said.
Concern that the number of cases has stalled
Meanwhile, the president of the Irish College of General Practitioners has said that the number of cases has decreased but has stalled, which is concerning.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week program, Dr. Mary Favier said we need to pay attention and that we have a week or so to make a difference.
She said whatever is decided will come down to our individual actions over the Christmas period.
Dr. Favier, who is also a member of NPHET, said there should be no home visits until the holiday season.
He said that people should wear a mask and stay socially distant when visiting a home.
In her own practice, Dr. Favier said GPs are noticing that the young and the elderly who stay indoors suffer the most mentally from this pandemic.
She said older people need to be told they can still go for a walk, for example.
Ian Talbot, chief executive of Chambers Ireland, told the show that its members feel they need to open their businesses on December 2.
He said many more Irish companies have online options and that “click and collect” has worked very well. He also said that An Post has delivered 5.5 million packages in the last fortnight.
Talbot said that retail is essential and should reopen at Christmas.
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