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Public health experts are expected today to recommend new restrictions for Dublin to limit the spread of the coronavirus, as fears mount that infections are spiraling out of control.
Last night, public health experts expressed a high degree of alarm at the current rate of infection, with one saying he was “more concerned than at any time since the end of April.”
The National Public Health Expert Team (NPHET) is meeting today to decide its advice to the government, which is likely to air tonight.
Ministers and senior officials hope that a significant tightening of restrictions in the capital will be recommended, and Dublin is likely to move tomorrow at midnight from Level Two to Level Three in the five-tier structure of Government to manage the pandemic that occurred. to know on Tuesday.
It is understood that public health experts have been informed of the Government’s willingness to adopt new restrictions.
Ongoing concerns
The cabinet subcommittee on Covid-19, chaired by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, is scheduled to meet tomorrow morning, after which any further restrictions will be submitted to a full cabinet meeting, probably held remotely, for approval. .
While there is constant concern in the Government about the economic impact of new restrictions, it is understood that the three leaders of the Coalition are convinced of the need to take measures to control the spread of the virus in Dublin, where infections have increased rapidly in the last years. days.
“If the figures continue as they have been, this only goes in one direction,” said a government source.
Some senior government figures were very critical of the fact that last week NPHET advice was ignored and travel from Dublin was restricted. A letter from Acting Medical Director Dr. Ronan Glynn to the government last Thursday warning that Dublin was a “reservoir of disease” was published yesterday.
Yesterday there were also recriminations in the Government after the launch of the Living with Covid roadmap, which was plagued with confusion.
Last night, NPHET announced that there have been 254 more cases, of which 136 are in Dublin, and three more confirmed deaths.
At a press conference in the Department of Health last night, the chair of the NPHET epidemiological modeling advisory group, Professor Philip Nolan, said: “I am more concerned than at any time since the end of April.”
Deteriorated
Professor Nolan said the figures were “of considerable concern”. He said the number of reproduction was 1.3 to 1.7 nationally and the number of cases is likely to double every 10 to 14 days if people don’t work to break the chains of transmission.
“If we don’t interrupt the transmission now, we return the R number to less than one, the model shows that we could have between 500 and 1000 cases per day by October 16, of which 50-60 percent would be in Dublin.”
However, he said incidents were growing at roughly the same rate across the country.
Dr. Glynn said at the briefing that the situation has deteriorated nationally over the past week. Along with Dublin, we have seen particularly worrying trends in Louth, Waterford and Donegal. It is now absolutely essential that people follow public health advice and act as if they or their loved ones are potentially infectious. “
Of the cases notified yesterday, 115 are men and 133 are women, while 65% are under 45 years of age.
NPHET said 61 percent have been confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case, while 24 cases have been identified as community transmission.
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