Covid-19 Ireland update: Latest from Dr Tony Holohan, Ronan Glynn and Philip Nolan as experts warn virus is ‘out of control’

As the country faces new restrictions starting this week, health chiefs continue to raise concerns about the Covid-19 situation in Ireland.

On Thursday there was another massive increase in cases with 1,205 new infections reported and 3 more confirmed deaths.

As of midnight Thursday Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan were placed on Level 4 lockdown restrictions following an alarming increase in cases.

Meanwhile, a national home visiting ban has also been introduced for the other counties under Level 3 restrictions.

And the government has admitted that other counties are likely to face Level 4 restrictions if the situation doesn’t change.

NPHET experts warned that the coronavirus is ‘out of control’ and that the situation is worse than anticipated during a press conference last night.

Dr. Holohan said that NPHET no longer knows who all the cases and contacts are, so mapping all of these things realistically can no longer be a goal.

He said the scale of the infection now and widespread community transmission means NPHET “can’t make the links.”

The number of reproductive R at the national level is 1.4, it is 1 in Dublin, where there has also been an increase in cases.

But outside of Dublin, the R number could go up to 1.8.

Here’s the latest on what health experts have to say:

Dr. Tony Holohan

Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan said “it’s fair to say we’re very concerned” the disease “has accelerated.”

He said: “It is clear that the disease is not under control, we share that challenge not only with colleagues from the North, but with almost all countries.

“The number of hospitalizations is increasing faster than the exponential growth model predicted.

“The government is not going to wash its hands or clean its nose.

“You have to assume that.”

Professor Philip Nolan

Professor Nolan said that “the disease is moving very fast” and “we anticipate an increase in the number of ICUs” in the coming weeks.

There has been a “significant increase in infections” in all age groups with a “two or threefold” increase in people over 65 in just one week.

Prof Nolan: “What we have here is a situation of more than 1,000 cases a day that is really dangerous.

“But that is a message of seriousness and concern, but not a message of hopelessness and despair.”

Dr. Ronan Glynn

Deputy CMO Dr. Ronan Glynn said that people’s behavior hasn’t changed much on the roads, public transportation, and commuting.

He said people are calling their GPs from their workplaces with symptoms and urged employers to allow employees to work from home.

When asked if NPHET’s position and message to the government last night was to move to Level Five, Dr. Glynn said he would not speculate, but reiterated his concerns.

He said: “Our opinion as NPHET has been clear that there has been a very significant volume of the disease, we made recommendations last week and we have obviously analyzed the data.

“Clearly, we are very, very concerned about the trajectory, the speed, the volume … critical care admissions and deaths.”