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Another 318 cases of Covid-19 and one death were reported in the state on Sunday as a cabinet member warned that a “free for all” Christmas is not on the cards.
In a statement Sunday night, the Health Department confirmed that there have now been 70,461 confirmed cases and 2,023 deaths related to the coronavirus disease in the state.
Of the latter cases, 126 occurred in Dublin, 45 in Cork, 28 in Limerick, 21 in Donegal, 18 in Kildare and the remaining 80 spread over 18 other counties.
The 14-day incidence rate of the disease is 109.1 cases per 100,000 people, with the highest rates in Donegal (231.2), Limerick (208.3) and Louth (205.6).
The rate in Dublin is above the national average at 119.9 cases per 100,000 people, with the lowest rates in Wexford (37.4), Laois (60.2) and Wicklow (61.1).
The department said that as of 2 p.m. Sunday, 282 people with Covid-19 are in the hospital, with 31 of the patients in intensive care.
Government officials continue to evaluate options to ease the restrictions when the six weeks of the most severe coronavirus level 5 restrictions come to an end on December 1.
Opposition parties, business groups and some TDs of the Coalition have been urging the government to clarify what will happen next. When asked when these plans could be announced, a government spokeswoman said Sunday that “we expect an announcement later this week.”
‘Tighten your belt’
Meanwhile, State Minister Pippa Hackett on Sunday called on people to “buckle up” for the remainder of the Level 5 period. She said people “young and old should really come together to make this”.
“There is no point telling people that we are going to open for two weeks at Christmas because it is free for everyone,” he said on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics when asked about plans for Christmas.
“Do we open for a couple of weeks and then close again in January? I don’t think it fits any business model and I don’t think that’s the particular message we should send. ”
However, he said the government wanted everyone to have a meaningful Christmas where they could celebrate together.
Ms. Hackett acknowledged that there was deep frustration among restaurateurs and innkeepers who are still unable to open despite having implemented the health measures they were told they needed. The scale at which the hotel sector is allowed to reopen next month is expected to be a key battleground in talks between the government and health officials this week.
The Minister of State said that the number of registered Covid-19 cases remains a concern and that it was difficult for the Government to provide certainty to companies as they did not want a situation where companies open before Christmas and then forced to close again.
North Ireland
The Northern Ireland Department of Health reported 10 more deaths from Covid-19 on Sunday, bringing the department’s death toll since the pandemic began to 933 and 342 new cases of the disease.
Six of the deaths occurred during a 24-hour period between Saturday and Sunday morning, and the other four deaths occurred earlier, but have only now been reported. The total number of confirmed cases in the north now stands at 49,784.
Meanwhile, new figures show that an average of seven patients a day contract Covid-19 while in state hospitals.
A total of 205 patients were infected with the virus at the hospital in the four weeks ending Nov. 8, according to figures compiled by the HSE.
This represents a sharp increase in hospital-acquired virus infections compared to previous months. A total of 299 cases of Covid-19 acquired in the hospital have been reported since June 21, when a new surveillance system was implemented to track these types of cases.
This equates to an average of about one in 1,000 hospitalized patients receiving hospital-acquired Covid-19 during that period, says the HSE.
Hospitals have once again become the front line during this second surge in virus cases, with large outbreaks reported in many of these settings.
Services have had to be cut at Letterkenny, Naas and Limerick hospitals due to staff becoming infected or having to stay home after being identified as close contacts of positive cases.
Inpatient tests
Healthcare workers account for about 700 of the 5,400 coronavirus cases, or about 13 percent of that total, that occurred in the past fortnight. The HSE recently ordered all hospitals to screen all admitted patients for the virus.
The Irish Times reported in July that 265 patients contracted Covid-19 while in hospital for other conditions, and at least 79 of these patients had died. This is independent of the more than 1,000 deaths of residents in nursing homes and other residential institutions that occurred here during the pandemic.
The HSE was unable to provide an update on previous death figures this weekend. According to a spokeswoman, the new hospital-acquired infection surveillance system does not collect information on patient outcomes.
This is because the information is presented weekly to ensure that the HSE has “a very timely view of the situation,” so the outcome for most patients is not known at that time.
In addition, says the spokesperson, “determining the cause of death in each individual is complex.
“While Covid-19 is clearly the leading cause of death for some people, in other people who were already very seriously ill, the contribution of the infection to their death can be difficult to determine.”
The test positivity rate for coronavirus tests now stands at 3.3 percent, well below the 7.2 percent recorded in mid-October.
Only Finland and Iceland have a lower incidence of Covid-19 than the state currently when it comes to European nations, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
The number of cases is stable or decreasing in the Republic and 14 other European countries. The death rate is stable or declining in the Republic and three other European countries: Liechtenstein, the Czech Republic and Sweden.
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