Pandemic ‘not over’ as experts warn of another surge in weeks

THE pandemic is far from over with experts warning of a fresh spike in Covid-19 cases in Ireland this summer.

Professor Luke O’Neill of Trinity College made the projection following warnings from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which said hospitals will come under pressure in the next four to six weeks.

‘The trajectory of the virus would suggest we’re going to get a surge,’ Prof. O’Neill told Newstalk. He described it as ‘a bit disturbing’ that a surge in cases is expected ‘in the thick of summer’.

He also said: ‘We’d be pretty confident there’ll be one [a surge] in September, because as we head back into the autumn and the winter and so on, the case numbers should go up.’

He added that experts will be watching China to see how the virus evolves there in the near future.

Prof. O’Neill said: ‘China’s the worry, because it’s rampant in China now... and spreading like wildfire.

‘China’s the one to watch for the next variant, and I think they’re watching that very closely.’

His comments followed predictions by the WHO’s special envoy on Covid-19, Dr David Nabarro, who said that hospitals will need to brace themselves for ‘quite a lot of illness’.

He also warned it is likely there will be repeated surges every three months.

‘We’ve actually been going down in terms of numbers around the world for the last four to six weeks,’ Dr Nabarro said. ‘I think it will pick up again in about another four to six weeks and there’ll be another surge. There will be a surge in Ireland as well as in the British Isles, and that may lead to quite a lot of illness in hospitals again.’

Yesterday, a further 2,370 cases of the virus were confirmed in Ireland. There were 412 patients with Covid in hospital, 36 of whom were in intensive care.