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The COVID-19 situation in Ireland at its worst since March and the UK’s new mutant strain is here, health chiefs warned.
The sad news comes after another 938 cases of the virus were confirmed in the country and, sadly, 13 more people died from the disease.
NPHET met today to review the rapidly deteriorating epidemiological situation in the country with Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan, who said that “every indicator of the disease is increasing and increasing rapidly.”
He said: “Our level of concern continues to rise. We must do everything possible, individually and collectively, to change the course of this disease.
“Review your Christmas plans to ensure that social contacts are limited and that hand hygiene, physical distance, ventilation, and face covering are in place if you must have visitors in your home.”
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronan Glynn said the situation is now the worst since the initial outbreak in March.
He said: “The epidemiological situation reviewed today is the most serious since last March. People must act at all times as if they or the people with whom they come in contact were infectious.”
“The disease has spread across the country and all age groups, we must act now to protect each other.”
“It is inevitable that people will get sick and die as a result of this escalation, but it is not too late for all of us to do everything we can to minimize that impact and protect as many people as possible.”
The virus’s reproduction rate is now between 1.5 and 1.8, which is even higher than nine months ago.
And according to the virologist doctor and director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, Dr Cillian De Gascun, it is highly likely that the new strain of the disease identified in the UK is now in Ireland.
He said: “Preliminary data would suggest, based on a selection of samples tested over the weekend, that the new UK variant is present in Ireland.
“However, given the chronology of the samples analyzed, it would appear that the new variant is not solely responsible for the recent increase in the number of cases seen in Ireland.”
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