Week-by-week 9% increase in the number of Covid-19 cases

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For nine of the last 14 days, the number of new Covid-19 cases has “stagnated” between 500 and 650. It has been slightly lower on other days.

NPHET described the situation in its briefing Thursday as “stagnant” or “static.” He said there was no group to which this plateau could be attributed and, in the face of much criticism on social media, called on everyone to do “a little more.”

Tonight’s numbers have moved significantly, but have unfortunately gone in the wrong direction, with 769 new cases reported.

Of course, these are the numbers for a single day. Also, this has not been a typical week with a bank holiday in between. Some people may have postponed seeking a referral for a test until after St. Patrick’s Day, leading to higher cases being confirmed this weekend.

However, according to NPHET Professor Philip Nolan, when you compare the total number of cases this week to last week’s total, there is a 9% increase week over week.

Doctors working at the vaccination center in Helix, Dublin (Image: Rolling News)

The fact that the number of people hospitalized has also risen from 328 yesterday to 360 today is also concerning. The number of these patients in intensive care has remained roughly the same at just over 80 people.

GPs have been warning for the past week that the number of patients seeking referral for Covid-19 testing has been on the rise, an early sign of an increase in infection in the community.

It is difficult to assess exactly what is causing the apparent increase in cases. However, there appear to be several factors. Large outbreaks in counties like Offaly, Longford and Kildare are causing the 14-day incidence rate in those counties to be much higher than the national total. Meanwhile, outbreaks continue in workplaces and factories.

HSE Clinical Director Dr. Colm Henry also notes that people increasingly mix with others in the context of a much more transmissible variant of the virus.

Dr. Colm Henry (File Image: Rolling News)

This means that a greater number of close contacts are being infected than before this variant was established, and people, particularly those under 65, find it very difficult to comply with public health restrictions as much as before.

NPHET began warning of a “slip” in compliance with public health restrictions ten days ago, on March 11. At the time, Professor Nolan said that Ireland was “sailing very close to the wind” and warned that a gust of wind in the wrong direction could cause real problems.

Today, he said that if people had changed their behavior in response to that message, the number of cases could begin to stabilize next week. However, given the increase in referrals GPs see, it is possible that the numbers will increase as a result of the gatherings around Cheltenham, St. Patrick’s Day, and the Six Nations rugby match.

The anger expressed by many in response to Deputy Medical Director Dr. Ronan Glynn’s plea last Thursday for everyone to do “a little more” is a sign of the frustration of much of the population after a three-month lockdown. very strict.

The figures, as they are, do not give cause for much optimism in the short term.

However, vaccination continues and in the next few days the number of people who will have received their first dose will reach half a million.

This comes as authorities remain optimistic that supply problems will ease significantly in the next three months.

Read more:
Hotel quarantine goes into effect next weekend – McGrath
Covid-19 numbers remain ‘stubbornly high’ – Henry
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