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The Covid-19 director of the Irish College of General Practitioners, Dr Nuala O’Connor, has said that there has been a 65% increase in GP referrals for Covid-19 testing in the last week.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dr. O’Connor said they would have referred roughly 25,000 people in the first week of December, but the fourth week saw almost 70,000 referrals.
She said they expect an increase in the number of cases as more of those referrals are processed.
“We also know that there has been intergenerational mixing,” said Dr. O’Connor.
“We know that the average number of contacts has risen to 5.9, there are some people who would have had up to 15 contacts on Christmas Eve and Christmas.
As positive cases increase, close contacts will increase, so I think we will see the effect of socializing during Christmas on the numbers during the next week to ten days. “
Dr. O’Connor said they are getting calls from many people declaring themselves close contacts and looking for proof.
If the test is done too early, the virus may not have grown large enough to be detected, he said, adding that they are trying to schedule the tests for day five or later.
“What we really want people to do is stay home and wait for the HSE contact trackers to call them,” Dr. O’Connor said.
“There is a bit of an obsession with the test itself, but what is important is the behavior associated with the symptoms of Covid and being declared a close contact.”
He said that “we have a chance now” to affect the trajectory of the third wave and that people’s behavior will have a significant impact. “
Speaking on the same show, the president of the British Medical Association in Northern Ireland, who is also a Derry-based GP, Dr Tom Black said that the numbers in Northern Ireland have been “consistently high” since before Christmas, and yesterday’s high figure was not unexpected. .
He said they have had far more problems in Northern Ireland than the Republic has had in terms of controlling the virus during the second wave.
It has been made “very clear” that the public are expected to stay home during the current six-week lockdown, he said, and “really need” people to adhere to the rules.
“The next few weeks will be much worse due to socializing over the holiday period,” Dr. Black said.
“The pressure on general practices and holiday services will probably peak in the second or third week of January.”
As for vaccines, Dr. Black said they have succeeded in vaccinating the majority of nursing home residents – about 11,000 people – over the past two weeks.
He said they hope to receive the Astrazeneca / Oxford vaccine this week.
“And then GPs can start what we would think of as big vaccination programs, hundreds of thousands of people get vaccinated because it is so much easier to use Astrazeneca.”
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Yesterday, the Health Department was notified of one more coronavirus-related death and 765 new cases.
The number of people who have died with Covid-19 in Ireland is now 2,205, while the cumulative total of confirmed cases is 86,894.
The number of patients with the disease in the ICU is 30.
Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan warned that there has been a sharp increase in the number of people admitted to hospital with the virus in recent days.
Dr Holohan said: “We are also seeing a sharp increase in positivity rates in community tests, with a seven-day average of more than 9.2% compared to 5.2% on December 18. This indicates that the virus is increasing. its presence in our country communities.
“This is just one more reason why we strongly advise everyone to stay safe at home to avoid transmitting or contracting this virus, as it continues to circulate widely.”
Meanwhile, HSE CEO Paul Reid has called on people to respond to calls from contact tracker.
In a tweet last night, Reid said there was a worrying and growing trend of some people not answering calls from tracking teams.
Reid said the teams are a valuable resource in protecting the public and the spread of the virus and asked people to cooperate.
There is a growing and worrying trend of some people not answering calls from our contact tracker. These computers are a valuable resource to protect you and the spread of the virus. Please take his call. @HSELive # COVID-19
– Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) December 28, 2020
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