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The UK’s most infectious variant of Covid-19 now accounts for two-thirds of cases, amid little hope for a significant reduction in restrictions early next month.
Professor Philip Nolan of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) indicated that this lockdown needs to reduce cases to very low levels.
Progress from here will “feel slow.”
If daily cases were to drop from 200 to 400 this month, it would be an “extraordinary performance,” but not nearly enough yet.
When asked what could happen on March 5, Professor Nolan said there would still be a very high level of disease and it will be necessary to ensure that cases continue to decline.
He was speaking as another 75 Covid-19 related deaths were reported yesterday, with the youngest victim 34 years old and the oldest 100.
Another 1,318 new cases of the virus were diagnosed, exceeding the level of 200,000 to reach 200,744 so far.
Professor Nolan said the next few weeks will be difficult, “and as we bring daily case levels below 1,000 per day, our progress will appear to slow down.”
“It is now more important than ever that we continue our efforts to reduce the number of cases to the very low levels that we achieved in June and July,” he said.
“It is very good news that our estimates of the R number are well below one, in the region of 0.5-0.8.
“I observed last week that the close contact test will have an impact on the number of cases in the coming days.
“We should not be disappointed by this, it shows that we have gone from the mitigation phase of the last few weeks to the containment phase where we are tracking all possible chains of transmission.”
Overall, steady progress is being made, people are still keeping their contacts low, and people are heeding the stay-at-home message.
After concerns were expressed earlier this week that cases were stabilizing and the rate of progress was slowing, it now appears that the spread is narrowing.
Professor Nolan said unusually low cases were reported on Monday and Tuesday of each week.
This was linked to little testing being conducted over the weekend, causing the numbers to inflation later in the week.
Referring to infection levels among people 85 years and older, he said the incidence remains very high and is slowly declining with significant deaths.
Yesterday’s Health Department briefing reported that there is a continued high level of outbreaks in workplaces and some of them are due to staff failure to take precautions when on break.
Commenting on the decision not to give the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to those older than 70 years due to a lack of evidence on its effectiveness in older age groups, Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan said he did not believe there was a delay in vaccination. group.
“We know that those over 70 have suffered the highest burden of mortality and serious illness from Covid-19,” he said.
“Ireland is now in a good position; we can now offer highly effective and safe vaccines to this cohort.
“The superior efficacy demonstrated by the mRNA vaccines licensed for use in Ireland, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, means that mRNA vaccines are the right vaccine to provide the highest level of protection available for those over 70 years of age.
“In the coming weeks, we will see many more of our vulnerable loved ones receive their Covid-19 vaccines.
“This is good news and it gives us all great hope.
“However, even if you have received your Covid-19 vaccine, you should continue to wash your hands, cover your face, maintain a social distance, and keep your close contacts to a minimum.
“Until we are all vaccinated, we must act as if none of us have been vaccinated.”
The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals across the country fell yesterday to 1,284, of which 188 were in intensive care.
Irish independent
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