11 deaths and 1,754 new cases reported with virus ‘rampant’ in Ireland

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Eleven more deaths and 1,754 new cases of Covid-19 were registered in the Republic on Friday, and health officials were concerned about the “rampant” spread of the disease and the rapid increase in the number of hospitalized.

The latest figures show that more than 500 people are hospitalized with Covid-19, with 47 in intensive care.

Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan said that between 50 and 70 people with the disease enter the hospital system every day. “Unfortunately, we expect this to get worse before it gets better. Our health system will not continue to face this level of impact, ”he said.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) said the state’s test and trace systems are playing “catch up” after delays over the Christmas period, putting significant pressure on the reports.

Professor Philip Nolan, a member of Nphet, said more than 9,000 new cases will be reported over the next few days. “The delay in notification does not affect case management or contact tracing or our overall monitoring and modeling of the pandemic,” he said.

The latest figures come as the head of HSE said that Covid-19 is now widespread in Irish communities.

Paul Reid said that a whole set of “worst case scenarios” have come together to create “explosive impacts.”

“The virus is absolutely rampant in the community right now, we know for sure,” he said.

“Everyone is now at extremely high risk of contracting the virus. We really need our vulnerable groups to be on guard, everyone. There is no doubt that our health service is on what we would call high alert. “

He urged the public to stay home and adhere to public health councils.

“We really need everyone to take the really appropriate action that we ask everyone to do, which is essentially backtracking. Retreat to our homes, drastically reduce our contacts, and really protect ourselves in the days and weeks ahead. “

His comments come in the context of a growing number of cases, increasing levels of intensive care and deaths related to the disease.

Mr. Reid said: “The actual outlook for the past few days is probably close to 3,000 cases a day.

“That is the extent of the virus we are dealing with. So when we get to these levels, we have a severe impact on a whole set of areas, not just our systems, the health service and the volume that any system can handle. “

He added that 35,000 swabs were taken on New Year’s Eve alone.

When asked if the HSE’s decision not to test close contacts for the virus was a sign that the system had failed, Reid said it was not and that they had to make the decision to “prioritize for people more symptomatic “as the demand for testing increased. .

People who are close contacts of positive cases are still asked to restrict their movements for 14 days.

Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan said public health actions had moved from containment to mitigation because the disease is no longer under control.

He tweeted: “We have very high levels of community transmission of # Covid19. We find, test and track to isolate cases / restrict contacts like CONTAINMENT or ‘control’ actions. Now that the disease is not under control, we focus our public health actions on MITIGATION ”.

He said mitigating the virus means focusing testing on the symptomatic; asking people with symptoms, waiting for a test result or who have tested positive to self-isolate for 10 days; advise close contacts to restrict movement for 14 days; and ask everyone else to stay home.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister has warned that it may be necessary to extend Level 5 restrictions beyond the end of January.

Simon Coveney described the challenge ahead of trying to tackle the latest wave as “significant.”

“We have made the decision in a manner consistent with Nphet to move to a full set of Level 5 restrictions until the end of January and it may be necessary to go even further,” he told RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland program.

Coveney rejected claims that the reopening of hospitality and allowing home visits in December was a mistake and caused the increase in Covid-19 cases.

Ireland

The head of HSE says the health service is on ‘high alert’ as 3 …

The Fine Gael minister said it was a “misinterpretation” of the situation to suggest that there was a split between Nphet and the government.

“The pace of the third wave of the spread of this virus has taken everyone by surprise,” he told RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland.

He said that the relationship between the government and Nphet, and the decisions that have been made on the back of that relationship, in general, have saved many lives and kept the spread of the virus under control whenever possible.

“Of course some mistakes have been made, but now we are in the middle of a third wave and Nphet and the government are working together, but the government must make decisions,” Coveney said, adding that ministers take the council seriously. Nphet. – Additional reports: PA



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