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Taoiseach Micheál Martin warned that cities could have Covid-19 restrictions as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Irish hospitals rose above 100 and Co Donegal prepared to enter Level 3 of the scale of five-level alert of the country.
Speaking in Cork on Friday, Mr. Martin said the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) would advise the Government “in terms of any restrictions that may have to enter other areas.”
“They are concerned about urban centers – Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford, especially as universities and institutes of technology reopen in the coming weeks,” added Martin.
“That’s a concern: where there are high-density populations, the virus can thrive in such situations.”
Mr. Martin emphasized that every effort should be made to prevent any other area, urban or rural, from entering Level 3.
“First of all, we have the opportunity to prevent those areas from going to Level 3 if we adhere to the public health guide: reduce congregations, reduce the number of social contacts and wear masks in stores and on public transport.”
“NPHET can advise in terms of particularly localized restrictions although, to date, it has been county by county.
Martin said the numbers are “growing particularly in the cities and built-up areas” of Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. He said the spike in the virus case had occurred “within the community and anywhere large gatherings have occurred.”
“Suffice it to say now that (NPHET) are very concerned. I was speaking with the medical director during the week and in places like Cork city the cases have been increasing in a straight line in the last two weeks.
“That is a concern: between 20 and 30 cases a day. That is worrisome. The same happens in other areas of the city ”.
Hospital cases
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the hospital has surpassed 100 for the first time since the beginning of June. There were 102 confirmed virus patients at the hospital Thursday night, including 12 admissions in the previous 24 hours, according to the latest operational report from the Health Service Executive.
This represents a substantial increase from the 88 confirmed cases recorded the night before.
Another 114 suspected cases of the disease are also being treated in hospitals.
Mater Hospital with 20 patients, Beaumont Hospital with 16 and St James Hospital with 12 have the highest number of confirmed cases currently being treated, according to the report.
HSE CEO Paul Reid said the real discussion should be about how to avoid people having to go to intensive care with coronavirus. Photograph: Sam Boal / Photocall Ireland
The number of ICU patients decreased from 17 to 16 last night. Mater, Portlaoise and Wexford Hospitals do not currently have free critical care beds, although 45 critical care beds are available throughout the system.
Meanwhile, the latest epidemiological data confirm that Donegal has overtaken Dublin as the county with the highest incidence of the virus in the Republic.
As of Thursday, Donegal had a 14-day incidence of 148.2 per 100,000 people, compared with 144.5 in Dublin, the report from the Center for Health Protection Surveillance shows.
The incidence in Louth was 107.8 and in Waterford, 86.9.
The incidence in the worst affected area of Dublin, the North West, increased from 200.3 to 207.1
Compared to the previous day, the incidence in Donegal grew by 21 percent, which in Dublin and Louth increased only slightly while in Waterford it decreased.
Between Wednesday and Thursday, incidence rates increased in 11 countries, decreased in another 11 counties, and were unchanged in another four. Within Dublin, rates increased slightly in all regions except South East Dublin.
This appears to show that calls by public health officials for people to limit contacts and follow the guidelines are working.
‘It’s time to sit down’
Paul Reid, HSE CEO, said HSE is trying to get the message out to people that “it’s time to sit down.”
Nobody wants to go back to the situation that was in March, he told RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with Claire Byrne program. The blockade kills the economy and society, he said.
The real discussion should be about how to keep people from having to go to intensive care, he said, when asked about the number of ICU beds.
People are tired and frustrated, they want a certainty that the HSE cannot give them. “Everything we do has to change,” he said.
Reid defended the country’s testing and tracking system, saying 1.1 million tests have been conducted to date.
Contact tracing at the moment is a balance between speed and time and the HSE is considering the idea of tracing more than 48 hours. Doing so will mean increasing resources, but if deemed necessary, resources will be provided.
Ireland is one of the few countries to test the contacts, he said. It was about trying to find a compromise, as new insights emerged all the time that needed to be examined.
“We need to keep the economy and society open. We continue to try to catch up on our response since closing. “
All measures must be taken to keep the society open, he said.
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