Covid-19 Thursday: 4 deaths, 429 cases

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 4 additional deaths related to Covid-19.

There has been a total of 2,010 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Wednesday 18th November, the HPSC has been notified of 429 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 69,473* confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

• 194 are men / 234 are women
• 69% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 34 years old
• 173 in Dublin, 44 in Cork, 26 in Donegal, 22 in Louth, 21 in Kildare and the remaining 143 cases are spread across the remaining 20 counties.

As of 2pm today 290 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 33 are in ICU. There were 15 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer, Department of Health, said: ‘In our objective to use a six-week period to drive down COVID-19 infection in the community, our progress has stalled in the last week.

‘We now have two weeks to get back on track. Drive down the disease by limiting the number of daily contacts you have. Work from home, stay at home and follow public health advice to get us to a reproduction number below 0.5 by December 1^st.’

Dr Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, Department of Health, said: ‘Deaths associated with Covid-19 have increased by 18% in the European region over the past fortnight. Last week alone, Europe registered over 29,000 new deaths. That is one person dying every 17 seconds. We have made significant progress in Ireland over recent weeks, but the disease and its risks have not changed. Please continue in your efforts to follow public health advice, limit the transmission of Covid-19 in Ireland and protect those who are most vulnerable in our families and across our communities.’

Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said: ‘For three weeks we saw case numbers declining at a rate of 5 -7% per day and a reproduction number as low as 0.6. We are aware that case numbers have now stopped declining and as a consequence the reproduction number has increased to an estimated 0.7- 0.9.

‘The data strongly suggests that a small, recent increase in the level of social contacts has led to the increase in reproduction number we see now. A small additional effort to reduce our contacts will make a big difference to reduce disease incidence before December 1^st.’

Dr Colm Henry, chief clinical officer, HSE said: ‘This pandemic has placed huge demands on our healthcare workers in addition to the standard care of patients. Their work now involves additional infection prevention and control measures which require constant vigilance and awareness. The best way we all can show our appreciation for their work is by doing your part to reduce community transmission.’

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of Covid-19 in the community.

*Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 14 confirmed cases. The figure of 69,473 confirmed cases reflects this.

Today’s cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 18 November 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

Meanwhile An Garda Síochána said today that they would increase compliance checks and engagement with communities on the use of public spaces in support of Level 5 under the Framework for Living with COVID-19 which commenced on the 22nd October 2020.

‘At four weeks into this six-week phase of Level 5, the focus of An Garda Síochána remains to keep people safe by supporting public health measures to further reduce the spread and drive down the impact of Covid-19 on our communities and most vulnerable citizens,’ a statement said.

It added: ‘An Garda Síochána will increase our patrols and engagement particularly in relation to gathering in large groups in open spaces. This will see increased Garda activity on foot, mountain bikes and vehicle patrols in identified public spaces. An Garda Síochána will maintain a significant presence on our roads, continuing static and rolling checkpoints, to check compliance with travel restrictions. An Garda Síochána will continue to check retail and business premises, checking compliance with essential services. An Garda Síochána will continue to engage with and provide ongoing support to the most vulnerable in our communities.’

• To watch or listen to the Southern Star Coronavirus Podcast, please search ‘Coronavirus Podcast’ at the top right of this page or see the Southern Star on YouTube. On this week's podcast, West Cork environmentalist Abi O'Callaghan Platt, from Courtmacsherry, talks to Emma Connolly about a national campaign to curb the single use plastic pollution that's generated from disposable period products. She also shares some tips on how to make your Christmas a green one. There’s music from Glandore pianist Rachael O’Donovan and a review of this week’s newspaper.

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