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HSE CEO Paul Reid has said that Covid-19 transmission levels are “very serious and dangerous.”
However, Mr. Reid said that people’s reaction should not be fear or distress, and he encouraged people to take “positive action.”
Mr. Reid spoke at today’s HSE Covid-19 briefing.
He confirmed that the first delivery of the Pfizer / BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine is scheduled to arrive on Saint Stephen’s Day and it is expected that a few days after the first 10,000 batches of the vaccine arrive, there will be another 31,000.
Mr. Reid said that public health teams have contacted Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, the Department of Taoiseach and relevant Ministers after Mr. MConalogue tested positive for Covid-19.
Although he did not wish to comment specifically on the case, HSE clinical director Dr. Colm Henry said it “highlights how communicable this virus is.”
Dr Henry said the situation in Ireland regarding new Covid 19 cases is deteriorating faster than in any other country in Europe.
Dr. Henry said that HSE had seen an extraordinary growth of infection in the last week, beyond what even the most extreme versions of the model would have predicted.
He said he had not seen this level of concern since the start of the pandemic.
The five-day moving average was now 714, 100% higher than last week.
He said there was a strong climb upward and the curve was heading in a vertical direction.
Dr. Henry said that the positivity rate was now 5%. Referrals for testing were increasing, and the incidence in all age groups had increased.
If the current growth rate continues on its current trajectory, it said there would be 1,000 cases per day by the end of this month and by the end of the first week of January it could be 1,500 cases per day.
He said that if this happened, the impact would be felt throughout the health system.
Paul Reid, executive director of HSE, says that the transmission levels of Covid-19 are “very serious and dangerous.” However, he says that people’s reaction should not be fear or distress and encourages people to take “positive action” | https://t.co/2VhNtzZY5s pic.twitter.com/OnfKDKCZ68
– RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 23, 2020
Dr. Henry said the virus had exposed the fragility of well-developed healthcare systems in Europe.
Ireland had had the best 14-day incidence rate in Europe, but said the situation was deteriorating faster here than in any other country in Europe.
In relation to the new advice issued for those traveling from Britain, Dr Henry said this strain “represents an additional threat to the form of transmission that we already know.
When asked if he thought people would follow the advice, he said that he could not assure that everyone would, but that the HSE would contact as many people as possible to give them the right public health advice and how to get tested. as close to the fifth day as possible after arrival in Ireland.
Mr. Reid urged people to be careful when visiting vulnerable people and to protect healthcare workers.
He said there are a number of issues that concern them, such as a high presentation of people to hospitals and the risk that high community transmission could affect a large number of health workers, particularly with the combination of people visiting homes. during Christmas.
This would be the worst of both scenarios, he said, where there is a reduction in the number of available staff and an increase in the number of people attending hospital services.
Reid said there is a lag between increasing the number of cases and hospital presentations, and they expect to see an increase in the number in early January.
HSE COO Anne O’Connor said there has been continual improvement regarding the Covid-19 outbreaks within hospitals.
He said there were a large number of hospital staff affected a few weeks ago, but that the situation has “improved considerably.”
He said 59 staff members are affected at St Luke Hospital in Kilkenny, eight at Waterford University Hospital, 52 at Tallaght University Hospital and 17 at Naas General Hospital.
This number is “significantly lower” than a few weeks ago, O’Connor said, when more than 500 employees were affected.
Regarding the flu vaccine, O’Connor said more than 1.1 million people have been vaccinated, a 47% increase from last year.
“Fortunately, we are not seeing any flu in our system that we saw around this time last year,” he said.
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