No new deaths and 727 new confirmed cases in Ireland

MORE 727 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) said tonight.

There were no new deaths among people with the virus and the death toll from Covid-19 in Ireland remains at 2,158. The total number of confirmed cases is now 80,267.

As of 2:00 p.m. today, 241 Covid-19 patients are hospitalized, of which 29 are in the ICU. There were 18 additional hospitalizations in the last 24 hours.

Of the cases reported today:

• 359 are men and 366 are women
• 62% are under 45
• The average age is 36 years.
• 311 cases occurred in Dublin, 51 in Kilkenny, 48 in Wexford, 44 in Donegal, 44 in Cork, and the remaining 229 cases are spread across 19 other counties.

Medical director Dr. Tony Holohan said the disease trends are “very concerning.”

“The situation has deteriorated rapidly in recent days. A total of 3,837 cases have been reported in the last 7 days, ”he said.

The five-day moving average has risen from 339 to 17^th December to 616 on 21^{S t} December, an increase of 82%. It is as important now as it was in March to limit your contacts and protect your loved ones.

The chair of the NPHET epidemiological modeling advisory group, Professor Philip Nolan, said the virus is spreading faster than at any time since March.

“The number of cases is growing by at least 5% to 7% per day and, most worryingly, in all age groups,” said Professor Nolan.

Dr Cillian De Gascun from the National Virus Reference Laboratory said that the variant of the virus that has spread rapidly in parts of the UK has yet to be detected in Ireland.

“However, as we know, the variant has been circulating in the UK since September so we cannot exclude the possibility that the variant is already in Ireland,” he said.

Rules on inter-county travel and visiting other homes were relaxed on Friday, but a sharp spike in cases in the past week has prompted NPHET to recommend the implementation of new restrictions before the new year, as noted above.

Cabinet is ready to consider NPHET’s recommendations at a meeting tomorrow morning.