The public is urged not to lower their guard in the face of the drop in Covid cases

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Health authorities have urged people not to lower their guard, as the number of new Covid-19 cases has remained below 1,000 for the past seven days.

The Health Department announced two deaths and 552 new cases last night.

The daily number of new Covid-19 cases has been less than 1,000 every day since Sunday, October 25, when 1,025 cases were announced.

The last figure is a little more than half of that total.

The 14-day incidence rate of the disease has decreased, along with the positivity rate. There has also been a drop in the number of close contacts reported for confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, the latest figures from the Health Service Executive show that the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in hospitals is 325 and, of them, 44 patients are in intensive care units.

The hospitals with the highest number of Covid-19 patients are Tallaght University Hospital with 30, Naas General Hospital with 29, and Limerick University Hospital with 25.

In Northern Ireland, another eight coronavirus-related deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 724, along with 493 other cases of the virus.

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The HSE has reiterated that it is too early to say that the recent positive signs are an ongoing trend and GPs have warned people not to let their guard down.

The Irish College of GPs Senior Advisor on Covid-19, Dr. Nuala O’Connor, emphasized that the best way to stop the spread of the virus was for people with symptoms to stay home.

Health authorities remain concerned that the virus could reappear as it did in Dublin, shortly after the Level 3 restrictions were introduced and it is not yet clear what specific measures have led to the decline in cases.

It appears to be due to the introduction of the home visiting ban as well as Level 3 restrictions, along with the move of some border counties to Level 4.

It is also possible that NPHET’s advice to the government in early October that it was necessary to move to Level 5 had influenced people’s behavior, although it was not immediately acted upon.

NPHET’s initial call to move to Level 5 may have influenced people’s behavior

The Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory said the suspension of testing this weekend due to personnel problems did not influence the lower number of cases.

Dr Cillian de Gascun said that there was enough capacity in the system to handle the 600-700 swabs that the NVRL would normally test over the weekend.

The outlook is much bleaker in Europe. Ireland is one of only four European countries where the seven-day incidence rate has fallen in the last week for Ireland by 36%.

According to weekly figures from the WHO, only Malta, Belgium and Finland also saw a decrease in the seven-day incidence rate and the rate increased in the other 24 countries.

NPHET has warned that Ireland’s progress is fragile.

When schools reopened this morning after the midterm break, HSE Executive Director Paul Reid reassured parents, teachers and principals that there is a low incidence rate in schools.

He said additional resources would be provided to schools this week that would improve the services and supports available to them in the coming weeks.

10,444 health workers hired Covid-19 – INMO

The secretary general of the Irish Organization of Nurses and Midwives said 10,444 healthcare workers have been infected with Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said that the HSE has confirmed that between 500 and 600 healthcare workers are dealing with the so-called “Long Covid” and still suffer from cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological or chronic fatigue effects, for what they cannot return to work.

He said that as the sector has a higher proportion of women working as nurses as midwives, a higher proportion of women than men are becoming infected with Covid-19 and are becoming infected at work.



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