Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan says he is “increasingly concerned” that the positive trends in Covid-19 case numbers seen in recent weeks has not been maintained.
The deaths of a further 11 people with the virus have been reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet). This brings to 1,995 the total number of deaths linked to the disease in the Republic.
Nphet also reported a further 366 cases, bringing to 68,686 the total number of cases in the pandemic.
Hospital Report
The five-day moving average of daily cases has increased from an average of 350 cases on November 11th to 424 on Tuesday, Dr Holohan noted.
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The Tuesday figure, however, is a slight reduction from 430 on Monday.
“We have two weeks to continue in our efforts to drive down community transmission of this disease as much as possible. The lower the incidence the more flexibility the country will have in easing measures,” Dr Holohan said.
Of the new cases, 84 are in Dublin, 44 in Limerick, 34 in Cork, 34 in Donegal, 24 in Roscommon with the remaining 146 cases spread across 20 other counties.
Some 61 per cent of cases are under 45 years and the median age is 38 years.
At 2pm on Tuesday, there were 272 Covid-19 patients in hospital, including 34 in ICU. Both figures have been relatively stable for three weeks.
However, Letterkenny General Hospital, with 41 virus patients the busiest in the State, had no general or ICU beds free on Monday.
The national 14-day incidence now stands at 121.3 cases per 100,000 people. Donegal (282) and Limerick (241.7) have the highest county incidences, and Wexford has the lowest at 44.7.
Meanwhile, over one-quarter of those diagnosed with the virus in the past fortnight showed no symptoms, according to the most recent epidemiological report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
Almost 26 per cent had no symptoms, almost 57 per cent had symptoms while the status of the remainder was not recorded.
The HPSC pointed out that symptom status is recorded at the time of test and is not updated,so a proportion of the asymptomatic cases may subsequently develop symptoms.
Underlying conditions
Some 2.8 per cent of those who have died with Covid-19 had no underlying condition, according to the latest HSE update.
People with underlying conditions accounted for 93.1 per cent of deaths, 88.4 per cent of ICU admissions and 62.4 per cent of hospitalisations with the disease.
Among those who died with Covid-19, chronic heart disease was found in 43.8 per cent and chronic neurological disease in 34.7 per cent.
Only Iceland and Finland have a lower 14-day incidence of Covid-19 than Ireland, according to the latest update from the European Centre for Disease Control.
Only Denmark, Norway, Finland and Estonia have lower 14-day death rates from the disease, the ECDC says.
Ireland’s death rate is 1.4 per 100,000 people. Sweden’s is 21 per cent cent higher and Germany’s 85 per cent higher. The UK’s death rate is almost six times that of Ireland’s; Belgium’s is 16 times higher and the Czech Republic over 18 times.
Separately, Nphet has warned the Government of a possible “re-seeding” of Covid-19 cases from international travel at a time when there was no legal enforcement of quarantine rules for arrivals.
In a letter sent by Nphet to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, the chief medical officer Dr Holohan also raised concern about the level of Covid-19 in Donegal and increasing cases amongst the elderly.
In relation to the travel, Nphet noted the “sharp contrast between the trajectory of the disease and the situation internationally.
“The elevated risk of importation through travel from countries with high rates of transmission to countries with sustained low rates of transmission can be expected to escalate in the coming period, as our domestic situation further improves while the epidemiological situation internationally and particularly in Europe continues to be a cause for a high level of concern,” it said.
It stressed the “importance of protecting the progress the country has achieved through application of Level 5 restrictions and of avoiding a re-seeding of cases through international travel.”
In the letter, Dr Holohan also emphasised “the need to manage effectively the risk of importation, particularly in the context of non-essential travel from areas of elevated incidence in the coming weeks and during the Christmas and New Year period.
Cross-border cases
In Northern Ireland, nine more deaths from coronavirus were reported on Tuesday, bringing the number of Covid-19 deaths in the North to 878.
Northern Ireland’s department of health also reported 549 new confirmed cases of the virus, taking the total to 47,711.
Ahead of the latest figures, Mr Donnelly said the Covid-19 pandemic “knows no borders” and that the governments both north and south “face a common challenge”.
“It is essential we continue to do everything we can across the island to not only fight this pandemic, but to build back better and stronger,” the Minister said on Tuesday morning.
Mr Donnelly was speaking at the all-island Joint Public Health Conference focused on Covid-19 which is being held online.
He said co-operation between north and south is reflected in the Memorandum of Understanding “drawn up and signed by both jurisdictions”.
The Minister said while we have all been impacted by Covid-19, “we know that this pandemic disproportionately impacts those who live in our most deprived communities”.
“The evidence is clear – people who live in disadvantaged communities are at higher risk of infection than those living more affluent areas. They are also more vulnerable to other health, social and economic impacts of this pandemic,” he said.
Mr Donnelly said there was now “a real opportunity” to create a healthy and equitable recovery from Covid-19 “which makes us more resilient into the future”.
“We can and will recover. We will make it through this difficult period together,” he added.
Minister for health in Northern Ireland Robin Swann said the spread of Covid-19 was "one of the biggest public health challenges we have faced" and had also highlighted "the stark inequalities that exist in our society".
“These inequalities unfortunately existed long before Covid-19. It is a hard fact that people living in the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland are at higher risk from infection of Covid-19 than those living in the least deprived areas,” Mr Swann said.
“Covid-19 has had a disproportionate impact on people from the Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.
“There’s an urgent need therefore to gather evidence that will inform public policy and practice and enable new diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines to be developed and tested for Covid-19.”
Mr Swann said “we will continue to learn from the experiences of managing the pandemic” and this will afford the opportunity to explore how it has impacted Northern Irish citizens.
