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Tonight three deaths and 1,283 more cases of Covid-19 were reported in the Republic, while in the North there were five deaths and 1,012 more cases.
The Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC) said there have now been a total of 1,852 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland and a total of 49,962 confirmed cases.
Of the cases notified today, 651 are women and 628 men, with 68% being 45 years old. The median age is 31 years.
Dublin accounts for 408 of the new cases, while 156 are in Cork, 88 in Kildare, 80 in Meath and 55 in Limerick. The remaining 496 cases are spread over 21 counties.
As of 2:00 p.m. today, 277 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized and 33 of those patients were in the ICU. There have been 17 additional hospitalizations in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, a leading public health policy adviser has warned that Ireland needs a “strong suppression” of Covid-19 for eight to 10 weeks to control it, save lives and prevent the health service from “falling flat on its face.”
Anthony Staines, a community health professor at DCU, said he believed the public would accept restrictions almost as severe as the March shutdown for a 10-week period if given “strong leadership,” a clear explanation of why they were necessary. and a clear exit strategy.
He told The Irish Times that the restrictions would have to be part of a new three-pronged approach to fighting the virus. This would include severe restrictions on the movement of people, but also a significant increase in testing to about 200,000 rapid tests per week and a significantly greater emphasis on the use of masks.
He said a lockdown alone was not going to eliminate the virus, because “when people go out again, the numbers will go up.”
If the virus were allowed to spread, “many people would get sick and many people would die and many people would suffer serious long-term effects.”
He said that even the Conservative Party in England, “not exactly the core of intellectual power in the world,” had accepted that serial and limited blockades were not going to solve the problem. “They are looking for a way out of what we are doing right now.”
He praised the situation in Australia, where very severe restrictions on public movement were introduced, tests at airports and mandatory face masks. He said that people in the Australian state of Victoria, in particular, had been “very brave in terms of biting the bullet to catch this virus.”
Speaking earlier Sunday on RTÉ Radio One, Professor Staines said: “One of my colleagues from Australia just tweeted a few hours ago: ‘Numbers in Victoria, one case today, two from yesterday, 500 to 800 in a couple of months ago. A few countries lead, while most of the world hesitates sticking to a recurring lockdown strategy. ‘
Professor Staines said he believed such a strategy would be accepted here even in the run-up to Christmas.
He said evidence from opinion polls he said the Health Department had been doing for several months showed that there was at least fairly significant public support for more restrictions. “I think the population understands it.”
“Whatever happens, the strategy will be to reduce the number of cases because I can assure you that the Irish health service cannot cope with what is happening now and will happen.”
He said restrictions aimed at bringing the number of cases of the virus to near zero or even single figures “would take a minimum of eight to 10 weeks, I’m just honest.”
“If there is clear political leadership, the people will do it,” and the country could “begin to restore the economy,” he said.
Professor Staines said that what politicians should do was “say that we are doing it to save lives, prevent the health service from falling flat on its face, and start restoring the economy.”
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