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The National Public Health Emergency Team reported no further deaths of people with Covid-19 on Monday night. The total number of virus-related deaths in the pandemic stands at 2,022.
Nphet reported another 252 confirmed cases of the disease, bringing the total number of cases in the Republic to 70,711. This is the lowest number of daily cases since September 27.
Of Monday’s cases, 88 are in Dublin, 26 in Cork, 21 in Kilkenny, 16 in Louth, 16 in May, and the remaining 85 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
On Monday, there were 289 Covid-19 patients in the hospital, including 33 in the ICU. There were 11 hospitalizations in the last 24 hours. The 14-day national incidence rate is now 108.7 cases per 100,000 people. Donegal has the highest incidence with 227.4, followed by Louth with 211.8. Wexford has the lowest incidence, at 36.1.
It occurs when the government will make a decision on Thursday or Friday on how to get out of the six-week lockdown that will end on Tuesday, December 1.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that restricting visitors to homes helped reduce the spread of the coronavirus and that the government must “take that into account” as it seeks to lift Level 5 restrictions.
Martin said that the Government will make the decision after listening to the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team of the State (Nphet).
The cabinet is meeting on Tuesday to hear the views of government ministers on lifting Covid-19 restrictions ahead of meeting with Nphet.
“Nphet will give his advice, but the government will decide how we get out of Level 5,” Martin said.
Vaccinations
The Taoiseach said that the chairman of the government’s vaccine task force, Professor Brian MacCraith, had told it that he hoped to have a vaccine distribution strategy ready by December 11.
The Taoiseach said it will require “a national effort” to “get the vaccines out properly and safely” with the cooperation of various state agencies once the vaccines go through safety approvals.
Mr. Martin warned that the arrival of vaccines “was not the time to relax” but rather the time to “redouble” efforts to prevent the spread of the virus.
On Monday, researchers announced that the coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca has shown greater efficacy than expected.
Oxford and AstraZeneca said that two different dosing regimens showed different levels of efficacy in late-stage trials in Britain and Brazil.
When the vaccine was given in a half dose, followed by a full dose at least a month later, the efficacy was 90 percent. When the jab was given in two full doses at least a month apart, the efficacy was 62 percent. The average efficacy was 70 percent.
The state is waiting to receive four million doses of the Oxford vaccine as part of an advance purchase agreement with the EU, if it gets regulatory approval. States are also in line to receive 3 million doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and up to 1.6 million of the Moderna.
Super spreader events
When asked about the government’s deliberations on how to get out of the lockdown on December 1, Martin said that he had analyzed how the virus spread in August, September and October.
“Super spread events” such as gatherings and congregations, including events involving alcohol, have been shown to spread the virus, he said.
“Ultimately, vigilance is key, human behavior is key,” he said. “What has come up, the restriction of visitors to homes, seems to have had an impact, so we need to keep that in mind as we move into December.”
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