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An immunologist has said that the policy of opening everything – schools, universities, colleges and pubs – during a month in which cases are constantly on the rise is concerning.
Dr Tomás Ryan, Associate Professor at Trinity College Dublin’s Faculty of Biochemistry and Immunology, said that while yesterday’s figure of 307 confirmed cases was “a bit shocking”, people shouldn’t be alarmed by the daily numbers, since “no day can know.” us both “.
It was the largest daily increase in reported cases since mid-May and brings the total cumulative number of cases in Ireland to 30,080 with 1,778 deaths.
73% of the reported cases involve people under 45 years of age and 64% of the cases are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case, while 72 cases have been identified as community transmission.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dr. Ryan said that while the imposition of local restrictions has been successful, they are a “reactive mole hit mitigation strategy”, in which no one wants to participate.
With more than half of yesterday’s cases reported in Dublin, Dr. Ryan said that implementing a local lockdown in the capital would be very challenging given the amount of essential travel in and around the city.
He also called for a way to make it easier for people to report Covid-19 symptoms and go from needing a referral from a GP to self-service sampling centers or 24-hour phone lines that people can contact.
He said patience is required while developing a vaccine and a strategy that is not dependent on a vaccine emerging in the next six to 12 months is needed.
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Yesterday, Dr. Ronan Glynn, Acting Medical Director, urged people not to lower their guard and “assume that you or those you know may be contagious and act accordingly.”
Health Service Executive Clinical Director Dr. Colm Henry said there is great uncertainty about the next few months and that it will be “a case in some areas, in some counties, two steps forward and one step back.”
Meanwhile, the number of patients in hospitals confirmed with Covid-19 remains stable.
There are 50 confirmed cases in hospitals, of which six are in intensive care units, according to the latest nightly figures from the HSE.
There are also 76 suspected cases in hospitals, eight of them in intensive care.
No deaths have been reported in hospitals due to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours.
The hospital system has 44 free intensive care beds.
The World Health Organization says that data to date suggests that 80% of Covid-19 infections are mild or asymptomatic, 15% are serious oxygen-requiring infections, and 5% are critical and require ventilation.
Generally, you must be 15 minutes or more close to and within two meters of an infected person to be considered at risk or in close contact.
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