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Dr Ronan Glynn has said that Dublin is being closely monitored after a new trend of cases emerged in the capital.
The deputy chief medical officer explained that the county currently accounts for a “higher proportion” of all cases in Ireland than might be expected given its population size.
However, he admitted that it is “too early to tell” if it is a definite trend.
The deputy CMO said last night: “We’ve seen a higher proportion of total cases in Dublin over the last number of days and that was a particularly high day on Tuesday, it’s back to around 30% today so that’s something we need. clock.
“At this point, we are not entirely sure if it is a close contact effect or just a random effect arising from a weekend, we need to keep an eye on it to see it. Traditionally, we have seen a higher level of illness. in Dublin than would have been expected given Dublin’s population, but like I say, it’s too early to say anything definitive.
(Image: Colin Keegan, Collins Agency, Dublin)
“Clearly if you have more cases people will come into contact with each other, but we have not looked at the county-level mobility data at this time, but will be monitoring it closely in the coming days just to see if that trend continues in Dublin. . “
However, Dr. Glynn offered some more hopeful news, admitting that health officials are “cautiously optimistic about the epidemiological situation across the country.”
Another 866 cases were confirmed Thursday, with another 52 deaths.
It marked another day with case numbers below a thousand, which have been few since the Christmas explosion in numbers.
Dr. Glynn said that the “positive momentum” of the past few weeks “has been achieved through the dedication of people across the country.”
But he warned that incidence and mortality rates “remain very high, and the significant risk of community transmission of the virus persists, especially for those most vulnerable to Covid-19 infection.”
He added: “It is vitally important that people continue to stay home and work from home whenever possible.”
Meanwhile, on another somewhat positive note, Professor Karina Butler, chair of the National Immunization Advisory Committee, said: “As of this week, we have administered 242,353 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“This is a wonderful achievement and I want to thank all of our vaccine management teams for their dedication and hard work.
“We hope that as our vaccination numbers increase, we can offer more protection to those vaccinated and, ultimately, to the general population.”
However, he added: “But, up to that point, all of us, including those of us who have received our Covid-19 vaccines, must maintain our adherence to all other public health measures such as hand washing and social distancing.”
On another positive note, Professor Philip Nolan, Chairman of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, said: “In the last week, the HSE has started testing close contacts of confirmed cases.
“This is a positive move as it clearly shows that we are back in the containment phase of this pandemic.”
But he also had a warning to the public, as he said that “the positivity rate among domestic contacts is quite high, close to 30%.”
Professor Nolan explained: “This is a timely reminder for all of us to immediately isolate ourselves if we have any symptoms, to protect the ones most important to us.
“We must also continue to limit our social contacts. Do not visit someone else’s home unless they are providing essential care.”
And Dr. Lorraine Doherty, National Health Protection Clinical Director at the HSE – Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC), said: “The ‘search-test-trace-isolate’ process of Covid-19 it is vital to our efforts.
“We all need to contact our GP as soon as symptoms develop, to run a test, trace our contacts if our test is positive, and prevent further infections.
“It is important to remember that everyone can access the tests for free.
“Testing and contact tracing are vital to our ongoing collective efforts to minimize the spread of Covid-19.”
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