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Ireland had the third lowest rate of Covid-19 intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalizations and admissions in a review of 18 countries, an international study on lockdown strategies shows.
The state also experienced one of the steepest reductions in virus-related deaths.
The international review, released by the state health watchdog, the Health Information and Quality Authority, shows that key indicators of serious illness caused by the virus fell in mid-March.
In the seven days through March 14, the ICU hospitalization and admissions rate dropped over the previous seven days by 23.6 percent and 23.1 percent, respectively.
Máirín Ryan, Hiqa’s Deputy Executive Director and Head of Health Technology Assessment, said hospitalizations per million population were lowest in Denmark and the Netherlands alone, while ICU admissions were lowest in Denmark and the United Kingdom alone. United.
“Our strategy has been successful to date in limiting the spread of Covid-19 in Ireland. But a further reduction in the burden of Covid-19 on our healthcare system will be necessary if the system is to deal with waiting lists for non-Covid care, ”said Dr. Ryan.
As of March 14, the death rate over a 14-day period had dropped 25 percent per week to 43.5 per million inhabitants from 57.9 seven days earlier.
A small number of countries, including Belgium, the Czech Republic and Italy, had experienced a 14-day death rate increase over the previous seven days.
Hospitalizations also increased in Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Sweden and Belgium.
The report shows that Ireland was only one of five countries to see a reduction in the number of cases of 14 days per 100,000 inhabitants during the week until March 14.
However, infection rates in Ireland have increased since the reporting period covered in the review. The seven-day average of daily new cases had risen 9 percent to 552 as of Sunday.
The review found that most regions were at the highest risk level, except Israel, where the vaccination program is much more advanced than in other countries, although the report says the situation is “extremely fluid in Europe” and the restrictions are “under constant review.”
“The types of measures that have been applied are generally consistent across the countries we studied, but vary in detail, including the use of night curfews, the number of people allowed to gather, and the opening hours of the hotel companies, “said Dr. Ryan.
Single dose
The report assesses vaccination levels as of March 12 and found that Israel had the most of its population fully vaccinated with 47.5% of its population inoculated, followed by Switzerland with 4.3% and Denmark with 4, two%.
Ireland had 3.3% of its population fully vaccinated on that date.
In the UK, only 2.3% of the population had been fully vaccinated, reflecting how the country has generally been administering single doses to priority groups.
The review focused on countries that were experiencing a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in October and identified by the National Public Health Emergency Team as in a similar phase of pandemic response to Ireland.
The document was presented to the state’s public health team last week.
The state has been in its third lockdown since just after Christmas, when a third wave of Covid-19 infections led to a record number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
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