Demand for the Covid-19 test increased 41%

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The national HSE testing and tracing leader has said they have seen a 41% increase in demand for Covid-19 testing, with 63,000 referrals seen over the past week.

Speaking at an HSE briefing this afternoon, Niamh O’Beirne said they expect to see that number double next week as it is increasing dramatically right now.

She said this means they expect to see swab sites across the country “at the best of their daily testing capacity.”

O’Beirne said trends in the coming days indicate that they could be looking at 25,000 a day for several days.

He said the highest number of referrals come from the 21-30 age group, which he said also has the highest virus detection rate at 8.9%.

Niamh O’Beirne speaking at an HSE briefing this afternoon

She said this was followed by the age group 31-40, which accounted for 18.5% of all test referrals, which had a 7.6% detection rate.

There has been a 129% increase in the number of contact tracing calls made in the past week, which O’Beirne says will increase in the coming weeks.

He said yesterday that they made just under 13,000 calls.

HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid said at the briefing that at this point the benefit of what the general public does “far outweighs” the role of what testing and tracing can do.

He said that we are now at a stage where the situation is “beyond any capacity you can build to follow.”

“You can continue to build capacity, but with the levels of transmission that are in the community, it would never be detected,” he said.

He added that the next big driver for reducing streaming is the public’s own actions.

Reid also said that most of the body’s worst worries before Christmas have come true.

He said there is now “an unprecedented and toxic combination of potential scenarios” that have been made and emerged.

Mr. Reid said it was a combination of “an enormously high level and rapidly growing daily cases,” combined with levels of positivity in tests that had not been seen in a long time.

He said this was demonstrating a “very dangerous level of transmission of the virus”, adding that there are now “extreme levels” in terms of the number of close contacts of people.

Reid said: “We are seeing that many of our worst concerns have materialized.”

Also at the briefing, HSE Clinical Director Dr. Colm Henry said that the reproductive number is now 1.8.

He said that getting the R number below 1 now would require a huge national effort.

Dr. Henry said that even if we managed to reduce the R number to 1.4, this would still translate to 2,000 cases per day in mid-January, and perhaps 3,000 per day in late January.

He said the corresponding number in hospitals at that stage could reach 800.

Dr Henry said that in primary care they are seeing a “very significant” number of calls and referrals regarding Covid-19, with more than 25,000 referrals to the community yesterday, of which 15,000 were symptomatic referrals from GPs.

Dr. Henry said there is now widespread community transmission, averaging over 1,200 days over 5 days, adding that we are now “entering a serious phase of Covid-19 escalation in this country.”

He said the 14-day incidence is 273 and is increasing in all age groups, adding that the increases were occurring in all counties.

Dr. Henry said the number of close contacts was now increasing daily and now stands at an average of six per confirmed case.

Paul Reid thanked all of his healthcare teams who have worked “non-stop” through the holiday period, some of whom had to be called back from their annual vacation due to the level of cases and evidence they face.

He issued “a very serious and urgent appeal” on behalf of the HSE to the public, saying the situation at this time was “very alarming and high risk.”

Reid said there was also a “very real concern” around the delay effect and how many cases may emerge next week based on the sheer amount of evidence they have processed in recent days.

“We are seeing increasing levels of outbreaks, not to an alarming level at the moment, but we were probably dealing with 6-10 in the week leading up to Christmas,” he said, adding that his main concern at this time was the level of community transmission. .

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He said: “We are all at extremely high risk in many parts of the country … transmission levels are at quite a worrying level throughout the community. So I ask everyone to really take immediate action, regardless of what decisions are made. take later by the Government.

“We need everyone to take immediate and urgent reactions. Get away from any plans, arrangements, activities that we may have had and really protect yourself.”

He said the growing number of hospitalizations for Covid-19 was a matter of “extreme concern,” adding that there has been “a very significant increase” in general service activity in the past three days.

Reid said that coronavirus cases in hospitals have a very disproportionate impact compared to normal hospitalizations, as with Covid-19 cases, beds and, in some cases, wards are lost.

He said that “hospitals are coping” but know they will be under increasing pressure in the coming weeks.

As of this morning there were 454 patients in the hospital, 39 in intensive care.

Reid said there were 650 beds available, but this has decreased in recent days, adding that there are 55 critical care beds available.

He added that the HSE has yet to see an impact similar to other countries in terms of the late arrival of vaccine doses.

Reid said that nearly half of the new cases seen in the past two weeks are among the 19-44 age groups, and that the number of contact tracing calls has increased by 300% in the last weeks.

He said that the highest incidence rate per 100,000 people was seen among young people aged 19-24 with 496.1, followed by those aged 25-44 with 340.5 per 100,000 people.

10% of new cases in recent weeks are among people 65 and older, he said, adding that community referrals for testing have increased by 64-65%.

He said cases are increasing and test positivity rates average 10% right now, which he said were “very serious.”

He said the number of new cases was growing at an “exponential rate”, and that yesterday’s numbers exceeded the peaks of previous waves of the virus.

Reid also said there are now another 32,000 doses of the vaccine stored in the cold chain.



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