‘Steady progress’ continues against Covid-19

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There continues to be “steady progress against all indicators” of Covid-19, Professor Philip Nolan said at a National Public Health Emergency Team press conference.

“We’re still on track to 200 to 400 cases per day by the end of February if we continue at home and don’t mix,” according to the chairman of NPHET’s Epidemiology Modeling Advisory Group.

It comes as six other Covid-related deaths and 829 new cases of the virus were reported to the Health Department.

Five of the deaths occurred in February and one occurred in January. The median age of those who died was 84 years and the age range was 75 to 95 years.

There have been a total of 3,687 Covid-related deaths in Ireland and a cumulative total of 204,397 infections.

The number of people with coronavirus in the ICU is 176, two less than yesterday. There are 1,211 Covid patients in hospitals with 39 additional hospitalizations in the last 24 hours.

As of February 5, 230,766 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered. 151,212 people have received their first dose and 79,554 of them have received their second dose.

The NPHET press conference heard that the disease is being detected in more young people under 18 years of age since asymptomatic close contact testing resumed.

Professor Nolan said that the resumption of these tests is inflating the number of cases reported during the last four to five days.

This has an impact on the daily figures of between 50 and 100 cases. Over the past 10 days, the proportion of asymptomatic cases has risen back to 20%, where it was before.

He said numbers at the hospital are down 60% from a peak of more than 2,000. The number of admissions has dropped, down from 60 on average over the past seven days.

Professor Nolan said there is still “steady progress against all indicators of the disease.”

He urged people not to be discouraged if we stay on a five-day average of 900 to 1,000 cases over the next few days because in the next few weeks, “we should see the number of cases decrease rapidly if we keep up our efforts.”

Dr Cillian De Gascun, Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said they were concerned about the variant native to South Africa.

He said that we still have to try to prevent the introduction of that variant in the country. There are 11 cases of the so-called South African variant here, all travel-related and not community-transmitted, and none of the variant that first originated in Brazil.

The variant first reported in England continues to dominate among new infections reported here.

Dr. Cillian De Gascun at a press conference at the Department of Health

“Variations will continue to emerge. We are focused on three, but there are likely to be more in the coming months and years,” Dr. De Gascun said at the press conference.

He said we must reduce the possibility of the virus replicating and reproducing, because that is when mutations occur.

“The vaccines that we have now were developed with the original version of the spike protein. What’s happening in the South African and Brazilian variants is that the spike protein has changed.”

“We may not need to go for annual vaccinations,” he said. “But it is very possible that we will need to increase our immunity in the coming years as the virus continues to evolve.

“But with the technology that has been developed, vaccines can be updated in a short period of time.”

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The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population is now 326.9. This compares with 478.7 a week ago.

Counties with the highest infection rates include Monaghan (692.3), Carlow (505.9), and Waterford (446.7). The counties with the lowest rates are Roscommon (131.7), Kerry (146.9), and Kilkenny (151.2).

Of the cases reported today, 401 are men / 426 are women and 63% are under 45 years of age.

There were 386 cases in Dublin, 39 in Meath, 36 in Cork, 35 in Kildare, 32 in Louth, and the remaining 301 cases were spread over 20 other counties.

Dr. Lucy Jessop, Director of the National Office for Immunization, said the evidence is that there has been a high acceptance of the vaccine among health personnel in nursing homes.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronan Glynn said “there should be no question” that healthcare workers received the vaccine, but concerns were allowed and needed to be addressed.

“I would tell them to talk to their doctor to find out more. We know that people have legitimate concerns about side effects, for example.

“They should not be pressurized, but there is extensive information from the general practitioner and health websites [to inform them]. We do not contemplate the adoption of mandatory vaccines and, from what we see to date, it is not mandatory. “

Dr Glynn said they anticipate a “flood” of data over the next several weeks that will hopefully “reinforce the reasonable premise” that vaccines will have an impact on transmissibility.

He said it is “too early at this time” to say when people can visit nursing homes.

“But clearly, once older people are vaccinated and protected, once healthcare workers are protected and vaccinated, there will be an ability to relax and more opportunities for interaction.

“I think at this point it is too early to give final dates on things like that, I don’t want to create false hope.”

There were 1,202 deaths in January, of which 451 were associated with outbreaks in nursing homes, Dr. Glynn said.

In February so far, there have been 195 deaths, 75 of which were related to outbreaks in nursing homes.

Dr. Glynn said they would prefer that people from different households not travel to work together, but if they have to, they should do so in the safest way possible.

They should wear masks in a car and have the windows open to allow good ventilation.

“I understand that it is not possible for everyone to travel to work by themselves. But clearly anywhere where households mix, there is a higher risk in those households,” he said.

Professor Philip Nolan (left) and Dr. Ronan Glynn speaking to journalists tonight

The CMO deputy said that “our intention would be that already this year we experienced the worst of this disease, and we will not have to go through what we went through in January again.”

The challenge, he said, is getting disease numbers as low as possible here and keeping them as low as possible so as not to import new cases that could be a mutation.

Dr. Glynn said that NPHET is monitoring reports that the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, “but they are based on very small numbers.”

He said it was too early to draw definitive conclusions about them yet.

The key issue at the moment is the B117 variant, the so-called UK variant, as it is dominant here “and we have three vaccines that are very effective against that today.”

Twelve more people have died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland, bringing the official death toll to 1,943. There were 296 new infections, with the cumulative total of positive cases now at 107,163.

A total of 330,941 coronavirus vaccines have been administered in the North, of which 303,478 were first doses and 27,463 were second doses.

Meanwhile, the HSE clinical director has said that there is positive information about the AstraZeneca vaccine “that comes all the time.”

Dr. Colm Henry said that there is currently a lack of data in phase three trials and real world experience of the vaccine in older people, and that medical and clinical information can only be obtained with the best information available.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said that if the notice of the National Immunization Advisory Committee changes, then the Health Service Executive will be able to adjust its delivery plans accordingly.

The NIAC has recommended that all licensed vaccines be used in adults of all ages, including those older than 70 years.

However, he said that mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, should be used for those over 70 when “feasible and timely.”

In its review of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the committee cautioned that while there is a lack of efficacy data regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine in older adults, “there is nothing in the immunogenicity data to indicate that it will be less effective than in the population. younger”.

Dr Henry said that there is a guaranteed supply of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines arriving in Ireland every week and that there will be “fairly easy” to vaccinate those over 70.

Also today, the government was warned that Covid-19 contingency funds could run out by mid-year if restrictions are only gradually eased after March 5.



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