A further 1,180 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the State as a senior health official signalled infection rates are on a downward trajectory.
The Department of Health said that, as of 8am on Sunday, 362 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, of which 59 were in ICU.
On Saturday, 1,703 confirmed cases were reported and all of last week the daily case number remained below 2,000.
The head of the HSE’s testing and tracing programme Niamh O’Bierne said on Sunday that, based on testing and tracing data, she would “absolutely” agree with the assessment of Taoiseach Micheál Martin that infection rates were moving downwards.
Ms O’Beirne said the volume of referrals for testing among 15-24 year olds had fallen back to the levels experienced among those in the older age cohorts.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week programme, she said “the referral levels is much lower and positivity for those who do come forward has fallen back from 22 to 16 per cent”.
She said really good vaccine impact was starting to be seen in the 15-24 age group with less testing and less positivity.
Ms O’Beirne said there were more than 800 schools across the country which, since classes resumed, had been attended by a child who had contracted Covid. Close contacts of these children were now being tested, she said.
The breakdown, she said, was approximately 500 primary schools and over 300 secondary schools.
Ms O’Beirne said that in all likelihood the children concerned contracted Covid-19 in the community because of the prevalence of the virus in the community, and given classrooms only reopened in recent days.
Ms O’Beirne said the second Monday in September last year was a busy day for testing and she forecast that tomorrow would also be very busy for testing.
“We will look very closely at the results both of the first test - the day zero test-and the [later] day ten test for those children [who are tested] and, from there, make a plan forward.
“It is expected that there will be a degree of transmission [of the virus] in schools. But the advice from public health has remained the same and all the measures are in place within the schools.”
Ms O’Beirne said there had been a considerable increase in the volume of testing carried out among children aged under 14. She said this was 40 per cent higher than in other age cohorts but that there was lower positivity rates found.
She said student in the senior cycle who were doubly vaccinated and who were subsequently identified as a close contact of a Covid19 case did not need to remove themselves from school and restrict their movements if they had no symptoms.
In addition, Ms O’Beirne indicated there had not been any increase in outbreaks linked to higher attendances at large sporting events.
On Monday, restrictions on gatherings are set to ease further with higher crowd limits for venues where people are either fully vaccinated or otherwise considered immune having recovered from Covid-19 within the previous six months. Religious ceremonies can proceed at 50 per cent venue capacity, regardless of immunity status of attendees.
In Northern Ireland, a further seven people have died from Covid-19, the North’s department of heath reported on Sunday.
Another 1,232 people had tested positive for the virus in the North, it said.
