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There have been three more deaths of people with Covid-19 and 484 new cases of the virus confirmed today by the Department of Health.
Here there have been 2,143 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland, while the total number of confirmed cases is 77,678.
150 new cases were confirmed in Dublin, 45 in Wexford, 40 in Cork, 32 in Donegal, 29 in Limerick, and the remaining 188 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
Of the cases reported today; 246 are men and 238 are women; 59 percent are under 45 years old; and the average age is 37 years.
At 2:00 p.m. today, 200 Covid-19 patients are hospitalized, of which 31 are in the ICU. 30 people have been hospitalized in the last 24 hours with the virus.
Professor Philip Nolan, Chairman of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, confirmed that the breeding number is now estimated to be between 1.1 and 1.3.
“We are concerned that Ireland is now in a phase of rapid growth, which if allowed to continue, will result in 700 – 1,200 cases per day by the second week of January, if not earlier.”
Dr. Tony Holohan, Medical Director of the Department of Health, said; “The 5-day moving average is 387 per day; This is an indicator that the disease is moving rapidly compared to the previous 5-day average. The virus is spreading across the country, in all age groups.
“We are now receiving reports of outbreaks in social settings, including work settings, Christmas parties and funerals. I can’t stress enough how important it is to limit your interactions now. The consequences of not doing so will be an exponential growth in January, a substantial increase in hospitalizations and risk to life ”.
Dr Holohan has said that the virus is “moving rapidly in all parts of the country, while Professor Philip Nolan said that, in his view, Ireland is at” high or very high risk “of an increase in January.
Dr. Holohan says the virus profile is “extremely worrying” and that if trends continue, with the R number “at least 1.1” then a challenge to the health service could be posed in early January.
Dr. Holohan says that this Christmas is “not the time” for large family gatherings and that people should choose a few people to interact with during the Christmas period.
Dr. Ronan Glynn says that people shouldn’t wait for the government to make a decision before planning their Christmas activities and says he hopes people who watch or listen to the briefing will make a decision tonight to limit their interactions and calls to people wondering “what can they skip this Christmas.”
Professor Nolan says that whatever level of social mixing that people did between December 1 and December 7, “it was clearly too much, and here we are now.”
“We need to stop now to protect where we will be in the next 7-10 days.”
Dr. Holohan says that most counties are experiencing an increase “to some degree” in the number of cases they are experiencing and says that some counties are experiencing large outbreaks.
Dr Holohan refers to Limerick’s compliance celebrations following his win across Ireland and says he expects the same responsible outcome from any county that wins on Saturday.
Previously, Taoiseach Micheál Martin tested negative for the coronavirus today following the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron that he contracted the disease.
The Taoiseach was a close contact for Macron at the European Council Summit in Brussels last Friday.
The Taoiseach had previously been restricting his movements and limiting contacts upon learning that Macron had tested positive.
In Northern Ireland, the Department of Health announced 12 more deaths and 656 new cases of Covid-19.
Minister Stephen Donnelly has confirmed that the Republic’s paramedics will assist their counterparts in Northern Ireland as hospitals continue to struggle with the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations.
More than 100 people are waiting to be admitted to hospitals in Northern Ireland.
Online editors
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