13 more deaths reported as Taoiseach urges the public to stick to the guidelines

The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) reported another 13 deaths and 738 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday.

This brings the total number of deaths in the state from Covid-19 to 4,313 since the start of the pandemic, and the total number of confirmed cases of the disease here to 218,980.

Ten of the deaths occurred in February, one occurred in January, one occurred in October, and a date of death remains under investigation.

The Health Department said the average age of those who died was 81 and the age range of those who died was 55 to 92.

The state’s seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 residents has dropped to 97.3, the first time it has dropped below 100 since Dec. 22. The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 is 215.8.

Of the new cases, 311 were in Dublin, 54 in Limerick, 36 in Cork, 34 in Offaly, 33 in Donegal and the remaining 270 cases are spread over 20 other counties.

The average age of the cases is 32 years, while 71% are under 45 years of age.

At 8 a.m. on Saturday, there were 550 Covid-19 patients in the hospital, of whom 135 were in intensive care (ICU). During the past 24 hours, there were 27 additional hospitalizations.

As of Wednesday, 391,355 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been administered in the state. Some 254,948 people have received their first dose, while 136,407 have received their second dose.

On Saturday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin urged people to continue to observe Government Covid-19 guidelines.

“It is important to stick to the guidelines. I know it is difficult for people, it is a very long blockade, but as we implement the vaccination program, we provide greater protection to the most vulnerable and to our older citizens, preventing them from getting sick and preventing mortality ”, Martin said. 96FM from Cork during a visit to a vaccine center at Munster University of Technology.

Martin said it made sense to try to reduce the Covid-19 numbers in March. “We don’t want hospitals to go back to where they were in January. Also, what we reopen now we want to keep open. We don’t want to be going back and closing sectors again if we can avoid it. Hopefully this will put us on a stable path. “

Martin declined to predict what will happen after April 5, the date on which the current closure restrictions are extended, and said the government will have to see how the reopening of the schools goes, a phased process that begins Monday.

Release update

Also on Saturday, the chairman of the state’s Covid-19 vaccination task force, Professor Brian MacCraith, said the only limitation to the launch of the vaccine will be the supply, with about half a million expected to have been administered. vaccine dose by the end of next week.

Professor MacCraith also said the task force was informed with “very late notice” of two changes to AstraZeneca’s vaccine deliveries this week and next.

However, Professor MacCraith said on RTÉ radio Saturday with Katie Hannon “this is not a reduction in deliveries, this is a rebalancing by AstraZeneca.”

“From next weekend until the following week, we will be able to fully recover what has been lost,” he said.

“The net global effect is close to zero because it is a rearrangement of the [delivery] program instead of a reduction, but very frustrating for us and very frustrating for everyone waiting for the vaccine. “

Professor MacCraith said the infrastructure and resources are there to vaccinate 1 million people a month in the second quarter of this year, with the potential for 500,000 people to be vaccinated each week in the third quarter.

He said that as we move toward larger volumes of vaccine deliveries, large Covid-19 vaccination centers will operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and could deliver up to 35,000 vaccines per week. He said 37 mass vaccination centers have been identified across the country, with 11 of them, like Helix at DCU, classified as large.

Vaccinations to date

Professor MacCraith said nearly 400,000 doses of vaccines had been administered as of last Wednesday, including 150,000 in long-term care facilities, more than 200,000 for frontline healthcare workers, and nearly 30,000 for those over the age of 85. years.

He said the goal is to complete the first-dose vaccination of those over the age of 85 by the end of next week. He also reiterated that a specific subgroup of people ages 16 to 69 with medical conditions that put them at high risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19 have been moved up the vaccination priority list and said they will begin getting vaccinated. starting March 8. . These include some cancer patients, those with kidney disease, and the immunosuppressed.

Professor MacCraith said the HSE was working to identify these cohorts and “how best to provide them with the most suitable vaccination site.”

It also said it was aware that several GP practices had experienced “operational issues regarding ordering and delivery. [of vaccines], particularly in rural areas ”.

“Everyone involved in the program is disappointed that this has happened,” he said.

Professor MacCraith said the HSE had been “working intensively” with the Irish Medical Organization (IMO) and the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) during the week to “fix things” in this regard and establish new order support. of GPs. team.

HSE CEO Paul Reid said in a tweet that “we are winning, but it is not over yet.”

“Our healthcare teams are exhausted. But getting his vaccine and the big signs that it is reducing transmission is giving us all a second wind, ”he tweeted.

Less stringent requirements

Reid’s comments came after it emerged that healthcare and other workers who have been infected with Covid-19 will face less stringent self-isolation requirements after they have recovered from the disease, as part of an attempt to alleviate the disease. pressure on the health service.

According to a measure approved by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), in the future these workers will be considered immune for six months after contracting Covid-19, instead of the current limit of three months.

Moving forward, workers who have previously contracted the virus will not have to self-isolate if, up to six months after recovering from Covid-19, they are determined to be a close contact of someone who has been confirmed to have Covid-19.

The policy change is expected to help ease pressure on the health service, which has faced workforce challenges due to staff becoming ill or had to isolate themselves because they have been a close contact for a case of Covid-19.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the HSE is reviewing the relevant policy in light of this recommendation from Nphet.