THE WORST IS YET TO COME
Warning as incidence rate at record high Four more dead, infected surge to 3,394
WE have not yet seen the worst impact of the Covid-19 surge on hospitals, the head of the HSE warned, as cases doubled to an alarming 3,394 last night.
A further four people died from coronavirus as Dr Tony Holohan warned the incidence rate is as high “if not higher” than March and added: “Every individual needs to act as if they are infectious.”
A similar number of cases today would see the country soar past the 100,000 mark for total cases since the pandemic started here.
Of the cases notified yesterday, 1,619 are men and 1,766 are women, while hil 65% are under d 45. 45 The Th median di age is 35.
There were 389 cases confirmed in Cork, 355 in Dublin, 339 in Donegal, 258 in Louth, 233 in Mayo and the remaining 1,820 cases are spread across all other counties.
As of 2pm yesterday, 607 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, of which 56 were in ICU.
There had been 71 additional hospitalisations in the previous 24 hours.
The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital has been rising in recent weeks, with the number of coronavirus cases in ICUS more than doubling in two weeks.
There are also fears about the backlog in the system, which is likely to see thousands of additional cases reported in the coming days. HSE boss Paul Reid yesterday urged the public to follow health guidelines.
Mr Reid tweeted yesterday: “We have likely not seen the worst impacts yet.
“But everything we do today to stop this virus spreading makes a huge difference. Please let’s all play our part to protect our health service.” Chief Medical
Officer Dr Holohan said: “The incidence of Covid-19 is as high, if not higher, than it was in March.
“Every individual needs to act as if they are infectious. Hospitalisations are rising to levels close to what we saw in the springtime.
“Everyone needs to stay at home other than for essential work or care. It is really important that vulnerable and older people do not leave their homes unless essential.
“This includes asking neighbours or family to carry out grocery shopping, limiting contacts to only those people you live with or have to visit for essential care reasons.”
Meanwhile, a new, more contagious strain of Covid-19 is likely not the reason cases continue to spiral across Ireland, a public health expert has said.
Yesterday, it was confirmed nine more cases of the new strain of Covid-19 first discovered in Britain have been detected in the Republic.
But Dr Cillian De Gascun of the UCD National Virus Reference Laboratory said data suggests the UK variant was not responsible for the recent “significant and concerning” spike in case numbers.
He wrote on Twitter that further testing on Covid samples from December 23 to 29 brings the total number identified to 16 of 169 to date. Philip Nolan, the head of Ireland’s Covid- 19 modelling group, also said on Saturday that the spike in cases was down to social contacts and not the new Covid variant. Ireland’s top virologist told RTE: “We saw an more intense level of socialisation and viral transmission over Christmas than we might have expected and that’s what’s leading us to the really precarious position we’re in now.”
Meanwhile, the North recorded a further 3,576 coronavirus cases within the last 48 hours.
Another 26 people have died with Covid-19, the region’s Department of Health said.
It comes as the rollout of the Oxford/astrazeneca vaccine in the North begins at GP practices tomorrow.
The virus incidence is high as it was in March, every person must act like they’re infectious
DR TONY HOLOHAN YESTERDAY