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The first signs have emerged that people may finally be restricting their social lives again in the face of a second increase in Covid-19.
However, it is not yet clear whether it is enough to accelerate the exit from the blockade.
There are signs that people reduced their social contacts in the first two weeks of October when Level 3 restrictions were imposed across the country.
Figures from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) show that the number of contacts of a person who tested positive dropped from six to four during that time.
The number of contacts in the 15-24 age group dropped to five, half the number of these young people in August.
The cautiously optimistic figures come as the number of people newly diagnosed with the virus fell to 777 yesterday, after having well exceeded 1,000 for many days.
However, seven more people died from the virus.
Among the new cases are 182 in Dublin, 81 in Galway, 44 in Wexford, 42 in Meath and 41 in Cork. The remaining cases are spread over the remaining 21 counties.
As of 2:00 p.m. yesterday, 319 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized, of which 37 were in intensive care. There were 24 additional hospitalizations in the last 24 hours.
One of the characteristics of the second wave of Covid-19 is that there appears to be a reasonable flow of patients through the hospital system with admissions and discharges.
Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan said: “15,000 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the last 14 days.
“It is vital that all newly diagnosed people isolate themselves for the full 10 days to protect the people they live with, the people they love, and the people in their communities from this highly infectious disease.
“Isolating yourself means staying home, staying in your room as much as possible, staying away from other people, including those in your home.
“If you live with someone who has Covid-19 or you have been told that you are a close contact, you must restrict your movements for a full 14 days. Stay home, do not go to work, do not go to school.
“I appeal to everyone to behave as if they are a close contact.
“Stay home, except for essential reasons. Now is the time to use our energy reserves and deepen our efforts to follow public health advice: keep your distance, wash your hands, and wear a face cover to break the chains. of transmission between families, neighbors and communities “.
Meanwhile, CSO figures have revealed that during the week ending October 16, nearly half of the cases linked to an outbreak were under 25 years old.
Infections in private homes accounted for 54% of cases related to an outbreak in the past four weeks.
The extended family accounted for 9% of the outbreaks in the last four weeks, while daycare centers and schools together accounted for 5% of the cases related to an outbreak in this period.
People living in electoral divisions defined as highly disadvantaged and disadvantaged have accounted for 41% of all cases since the pandemic began.
This is despite the fact that they constitute 37% of the population.
Those living in electoral divisions labeled rich or very rich have made up 35% of all cases since the start of the pandemic, although they represent 40% of the population.
Furthermore, the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL), which processes 600 Covid-19 tests a day, is closed this weekend and next due to staff shortages.
Since March, it has divided its staff into two teams as a contingency in the event of an outbreak in the laboratory. Currently, one of the tester teams is self-isolating and the second team has taken over the workload for the week. This has meant that the lab will not run tests over the weekend.
He said that over the course of this weekend and next these swabs will be completed by other laboratories contracted by HSE. Up to 17,000 swabs are tested every day and NVRL weekend fixes will not affect national capacity.
It comes in the wake of the HSE debacle that caused delays in contact tracing.
Irish independent
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