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Northern Ireland Prime Minister Arlene Foster has admitted that the new strain of Covid-19 is “probably in Northern Ireland and the Republic.”
s Foster told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster: “He is probably here and probably in the Republic as well.”
The government has not yet decided on an official date for the new restrictions here, but December 28 and 30 are believed to be two dates the government has in mind.
This comes amid an increase in cases, as Nphet announced 764 new cases and four more deaths yesterday.
This was the highest number of confirmed cases announced since early November.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Ryan says there is no evidence of the new strain in Ireland yet, but labs are checking every sample.
“We don’t have any evidence of that strain here, our labs are now checking each positive case to see if it is [here].
“It was the British government announcement telling people to stay home [that triggered the travel ban to and from the UK]. The analysis they presented showed that the transmissibility of this new strain could be significantly higher than previous strains and that is what made us and other EU governments act quickly. “
Martin McKee, professor of public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases, told RTÉ this morning that the new strain of coronavirus found in London has undergone an “unusual” change, which has made it easier to spread.
Professor McKee said the virus was spreading widely despite London being at the previous highest level of restrictions that were effective in suppressing other strains and appears to be more transmissible than previous versions of the virus.
Professor McKee said that the new strain appears to add between 0.4 and 0.9 to the R number and if it is closer to 0.9 then “we’re really going to have problems.
“Even in the middle of this prediction, it adds a lot to the R number and it is very difficult to see how you can keep the R number below one if this is the case.”
If the R number is above one, then one infected person will give it to more than one other person and the conditions for exponential growth will occur.
Online editors
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