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A senior health official has warned that more than 9,000 additional cases will be reported when the system catches up with this week’s cases, as the backlog of completed and reported Covid-19 tests continues to grow.
Professor Philip Nolan, Chairman of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, said: “An excess of 9,000 additional new cases will be reported in the coming days. The delay in notification does not affect case management or contract tracking or our overall pandemic model. “
The Department of Health reported another 1,754 confirmed cases of Covid-19 tonight along with an additional 11 deaths.
The number of cases since the outbreak began has reached 93,532 confirmed cases, as well as 2,248 deaths in total.
Hospitalizations have continued to rise across the country, with 46 additional hospitalizations recorded in the past 24 hours.
The chief doctor has warned that the health service will not be able to cope with the level of cases.
Dr. Tony Holohan said: “The most worrying trend today is the increasing number of people entering the hospital; we now admit between 50 and 70 people a day in our hospital system.
“Unfortunately, we expect this to get worse before it gets better. Our healthcare system will not continue to face this level of impact. “
In total, 504 patients are currently hospitalized with the virus, 47 of whom are in intensive care units.
The 14-day national incidence rate of the virus is now 321.3 per 100,000 population.
Of the 1,620 cases reported today, the majority are in Dublin with 523 cases in the capital.
This is followed by 296 in Cork, 180 in Galway, 104 in May and 94 in Kerry.
The remaining 557 cases are spread across all other counties.
Of today’s results, 846 are men, while 900 are women.
It has been recorded that 64% of currently confirmed cases are under 45 years old and the average age is 35 years.
HSE Chief Executive Officer Paul Reid has said Ireland could see 3,000 Covid-19 cases per day as the testing system catches up with reported cases.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, the head of HSE said the health service is on “high alert” as Covid-19 cases and contact tracing rise and Ireland’s testing system addresses the growing infection. for coronavirus in the community.
Reid said people need to cut back on contacts and stay home to protect themselves for the days and weeks to come.
Meanwhile, the reopening of preschool services will now be delayed until January 11, in line with schools, in a bid to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Roderic O’Gorman, the Minister for Children, announced on Friday that the resumption of the ECCE scheme will be postponed to allow more time for families to reduce their contacts.
However, the minister is calling for nurseries that operate as private companies to reopen as planned from January 4 to provide childcare, particularly to priority groups.
According to the Department for Children, more than 100,000 children are currently enrolled in ECCE programs that are provided in 4,000 services nationwide.
Italy has recorded another 462 deaths from coronavirus, bringing its death toll from the pandemic to 74,621, the highest in Europe.
The daily death toll in the country remains stubbornly high more than two months after the restrictive measures and in the second week of a modified lockdown.
The number of new positives fell by 5% compared to the previous day, to 22,211, while 15% fewer tests were administered, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health.
Italy is launching its vaccine campaign and is targeting nursing home residents and medical staff first.
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