[ad_1]
“THIS IS a rapidly deteriorating position,” warned Professor Philip Nolan at last night’s NPHET press conference.
Sitting next to recently returned medical director Dr. Tony Holohan, Nolan’s warning came amid the fallout from Sunday’s leak on NPHET’s Level 5 recommendation.
With the entire country now under Level 3, Dr. Holohan and Professor Nolan wasted no time in voicing their fears that the Covid-19 situation in Ireland had worsened even in the three days that NPHET met to recommend Level 5.
All key indicators of the disease have deteriorated further since Sunday, the medical director said.
“What I have to convey is the seriousness of the situation. We are very concerned, ”said Dr. Holohan, who chaired his first briefing since taking personal leave in July.
NPHET reported five Covid-19 deaths in Ireland and 611 new cases last night.
Hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care due to the virus are increasing. The incidence continues among young people aged 19-24 and those over 65.
The disease has returned to nursing homes. There have been five outbreaks in recent weeks where there have been more than 20 cases, Dr. Holohan said last night.
On August 1 there were 8 people hospitalized with Covid-19. There are currently 156 people in the hospital, including 27 in the ICU.
The national R number is now 1.2, cases of the virus are doubling on average every 18 days.
Professor Nolan noted that the growth rate in Dublin is slower, growing by about 2% there compared to 4% nationally, but added that the full trend was not yet clear.
Donegal has the highest incidence rate in Ireland at 312 cases per 100,000 population.
‘They don’t share our goal’
With NPHET meeting today, all eyes will be on how it communicates its advice to government, and whether or not that advice on whether or not to increase restrictions will be made public sooner than later.
Dr. Holohan addressed the consequences of Sunday’s Level 5 recommendation last night, saying, “Findings and recommendations in the past required urgent and confidential discussion… that did not happen because it was leaked to the media.
“Whoever leaked it did not share our goal of treating the disease adequately,” he said.
That didn’t stop more questions from journalists at the briefing about the public slap of NPHET by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar earlier this week, and speculation that the Government and NPHET are no longer on the same page.
Dr Holohan said that he spoke with Varadkar for a “considerable” time yesterday, that he has “tough skin” when it comes to criticism and, more importantly, that he communicated his fears about the rapid spread of Covid-19 to the minister. from Health Stephen Donnelly on a phone call Sunday morning before the NPHET meeting.
No news is bad news
Support the magazine
your contributions help us keep delivering the stories that are important to you
Support us now
Okay, let’s try and get us through NPHET / Level 5 / government debacle from the NPHET side:
It was a “communication failure,” an NPHET source tells me, adding that Taoiseach should have been given advance notice.
– Conal Thomas (@ConalThomas) October 6, 2020
Meanwhile, public health officials continued to insist on the need for people to reduce their contacts.
“We all like to go to a game, have a beer … some of these things are not possible, others are possible,” said Dr. Holohan.
The CMO added that there is a tendency to “blame” among members of the population. That, he said, is the “enemy of progress.”
“Apart from taking personal responsibility … We cannot blame each other for transmitting a highly infectious disease.”
Based on current trends, Nolan said, Ireland could see between 1,100 and 1,500 cases per day by November 7.
“The bottom line is that unless there is a very serious drop … we will see hospital numbers that would be a very significant challenge as a society,” he said, adding that the 14-day incidence in Ireland is now 124 per 100,000.
It’s been “a long time since we’ve seen those numbers change so quickly,” Nolan said.
[ad_2]