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The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) reported another nine deaths of Covid-19 patients. This brings the total number of deaths in the pandemic to 2,213.
Nphet also reported 1,546 confirmed cases of the disease, bringing the total number of cases in the Republic to 88,439.
This is the highest daily number of cases recorded so far in the pandemic, although the figure has likely been inflated due to the delay in reporting during the Christmas period.
Of the new cases, 444 were in Dublin, 203 in Cork, 111 in Louth, 87 in Limerick and 85 in Donegal, with the remaining 616 cases spread across all other counties.
The average age is 34 years and 66% are under 45 years of age.
On Tuesday afternoon, 411 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized, of which 34 were in the ICU. There were 47 additional hospitalizations in the past 24 hours.
Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan urged people to remain vigilant given the increasing spread of the disease, but also highlighted the prospect of better times ahead with the first vaccines administered today.
“We have reached a significant milestone in our collective response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Ireland, with the launch of our national vaccination program.
“Seeing the first recipients of the vaccine gives us hope for better times ahead, especially for those of us who are the most vulnerable to the virus, including those over the age of 70 and with underlying diseases.
“As the vaccination program is implemented, particularly given the increasing spread of the disease and the worrying increase in the number of hospitalizations, up to 411 today, we must all remember to be vigilant about the continued risk of the spread of Covid-19 . and follow public health advice in our daily lives. “
Rachel Kenna, director of nursing, noted that many nurses and midwives will be among the first to receive the vaccine so that they can continue to provide care to patients. “However, it is vital to support them and all of our front-line staff by continuing to adhere to recommended public health measures as the vaccine program is implemented.”
Cabinet meeting
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has confirmed that an “unscheduled” cabinet meeting will take place on Wednesday due to concerns about the rapid and “exponential growth” in the number of Covid-19 cases in recent days. .
Last week, 234 people had been hospitalized with Covid-19, that number had risen to 409 by Tuesday, which was even more cause for concern, he said.
Ireland did not want to be in the same position as the UK, where the NHS was overwhelmed with Covid-19 cases.
Cabinet will consider Nphet’s advice, which was held to the effect that there should be a return to “full” Level 5 restrictions, which would mean the closure of non-essential retail stores along with gyms and leisure centers.
However, the Minister said that regardless of the level of restrictions the country is in, the advice remains to limit the number of contacts. Some people diagnosed as positive in recent days had “up to 30 close contacts.” Social events were happening with too many people attending, he said.
The Cabinet position remained that schools should open next week, as the school was a safer place for children than the community.
Cases for GPs
Covid leader for the Irish College of General Practitioners, Dr Nuala O’Connor, said she expected a large increase in the number of Covid cases in the coming days, as GPs had noticed an increase of 65 percent in referrals for Covid testing in the past. week.
By Tuesday afternoon, Dr. O’Connor said GPs across the state had made 14,000 referrals for patients to receive Covid-19 testing.
During the first week of December, GPs made 25,000 referrals for the entire week, by the fourth week of December, that had risen to 70,000, he said.
The number of people hospitalized for coronavirus has “increased dramatically” in the past two days, according to Dr. Holohan.
The current seven-day average rate of positive tests had risen to 9.2%, up from 5.2% on December 18.
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