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It is “too early” to know whether a new strain of coronavirus confirmed in Britain has emerged in Ireland, the deputy chief medical officer said.
Dr Ronan Glynn said that Irish public health officials only received formal notification of the new Covid-19 strain on Monday, at the same time the UK government publicly announced the news.
“We received a formal notification of that variant through our official early warning system with European colleagues and the UK, and there is very little information available to us at this time,” Dr Glynn told a news conference.
“There is more epidemiological and virological research ongoing by colleagues in the UK.
“Obviously, we will be interested in the potential effects of this variant in terms of transmission, but at this stage it is too early to say whether or not it has such effects.
“We really need to wait for more information to come out. It is too early at this stage to say if the variant has been seen in this country, “he added.
Dr. Glynn also confirmed two more deaths and 264 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Republic, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state to 2,126.
Of the new cases, 65% correspond to people under 45 years of age, with 79 cases located in Dublin, 24 in Donegal, 19 in Kerry, 18 in Limerick, 14 in Kildare, 14 in Wexford and the remaining 96 cases distributed among others. 16 counties.
The latest figures show 215 Covid-19 patients are in hospital, with 33 in intensive care.
Donegal and Kilkenny counties have the highest infection rates in the state.
In Donegal, the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population is 225.5 and in Kilkenny it is 199.5. The lowest rate is in Leitrim with 25.
North Ireland
This comes as health trusts in Northern Ireland said hospitals in the region are at risk of being “overwhelmed” by a Covid-19 spike in January.
Several acute centers in the north are already operating beyond capacity.
Ireland
Coronavirus: Hospitals in the North are at risk of being ‘overwh …
The flow of patients through the hospital has been “severely affected” by pandemic restrictions, according to a joint statement from the executive directors of six organizations that provide NHS services.
Another five deaths with Covid-19 were reported Monday in the north, bringing the death toll to 1,129.
The Health Department was notified of another 419 new cases of the virus.
Hospital occupancy on Monday was 98 percent, with 429 hospitalized patients confirmed by Covid-19, 31 in intensive care units. – Additional reports: PA
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