Incidence rate rising... as is threat of lockdown

Taoiseach warns that danger of nationwide restrictions remains

THE incidence rate of Covid-19 is rising in Ireland – and the Taoiseach has warned that the threat of a new lockdown remains.

Ireland’s 14-day incidence rate is now 31.1, compared to 25.4 last week, according to figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The rate is higher than the UK at 22.6, Germany at 20.7 and Italy at 17.9. Micheál Martin yesterday warned the danger of another nationwide lockdown remains.

The Taoiseach said: ‘We want to try and avoid the lockdown but the danger and challenge is always there.’

Another 93 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed yesterday. Health chiefs have said the coronavirus spread has changed from a series of large clusters to around 250 outbreaks in private households due to the normal interaction between families. A total of 392 outbreaks are being monitored by health officials.

Around 250 of those are in houses and the rest in workplaces or social or retail settings.

In one pub-restaurant there were 26 cases, leading to a further ten cases in another workplace, said Dr John Cuddihy, director at the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. Another restaurant had 19 cases.

Another outbreak involved six cases in a sports club followed by transmission at an associated social gathering to 19 others.

At a retailer, seven cases were recorded, including some staff who worked while symptomatic.

The reproductive rate of the virus in Ireland is now at between 1 and 1.2. Professor Philip Nolan, of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), said people should ration social contacts, limiting them to their nearest and dearest and allowing their children to go to school.

He said: ‘We as a population of five million have a budget for social contact; every contact carries a risk of transmission.’

He said Ireland needed to keep the virus at bay during the winter, adding: ‘We in the community need to starve this virus of opportunities to transmit.’

Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn warned that if infections spread, then so too will admissions to hospital.

‘We are not contemplating a national lockdown as things stand... but the power to prevent that is in each of our hands over the coming days,’ he added.

Of the 93 cases notified yesterday, there were 34 in Dublin, six each in Donegal and Laois, five each in Limerick and Wexford, with the remaining 30 in Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Louth, Meath. Monaghan, Offaly, Tipperary, Westmeath and Wicklow.

Kildare is to remain locked down with health chiefs saying Covid numbers have not stabilised enough to allow local restrictions to be eased early. Dr Glynn yesterday said he was ‘confident that everything is going in the right direction’ in Kildare, but added that the rate has not improved or stabilised to the extent needed to ease restrictions.

‘It still has the highest 14- and seven-day incidence in the country. It is too early to relax the measures. It hasn’t improved or stabilised to the extent that we would need. We will continue to monitor it very closely,’ he said.

Dr Glynn added: ‘We’re very, very conscious of the effect that the measures are having on people who live in Kildare. But unfortunately, at this point, it’s too early to relax the measures.’

Dublin has seen 564 cases over the last 14 days, compared to Kildare’s 329.

‘Every contact carries a risk’