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Covid-19 Friday: 20 deaths, 8,248 new cases

January 8th, 2021 7:05 PM

By Siobhan Cronin

As of 8am today, 692 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 75 are in ICU.(Photo: Shutterstock)

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THE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 20 additional deaths related to Covid-19.

There has been a total of 2,327 Covid-19-related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight, Thursday 7th January, the HPSC has been notified of 8,248 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 135,884* confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

  • 3,834 are men / 4,375 are women
  • 61% are under 45 years of age
  • The median age is 38 years old
  • 3,013 in Dublin, 1,374 in Cork, 538 in Limerick, 314 in Kildare, 310 in Donegal and the remaining 2,699 cases are spread across all other counties.

 

As of 2pm today, 1,180 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 109 are in ICU. There were 116 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

 

Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer, Department of Health, said: ‘Three cases of a new variant of Covid-19 recently identified in South Africa have been confirmed in Ireland today by whole genome sequencing. All of the cases identified are directly associated with recent travel from South Africa.

 

‘Anyone who has travelled from South Africa recently is advised to self-isolate for 14 days and identify themselves through a GP for testing as soon as possible.

 

‘We are particularly advising healthcare workers travelling from South Africa, that it is essential that they self-isolate for 14 days before entering/re-entering the workplace.

 

‘While this variant has not yet been identified in many European countries we believe the identification here reflects the extent of genome sequencing surveillance in Ireland.’

 

Dr Cillian De Gascun, medical virologist and director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said: ‘The ECDC Assessment states that preliminary analyses indicate that the South African variant is associated with a heightened viral load and may have increased transmissibility. It also states that there is no evidence to date that this variant is associated with higher severity of infection.

 

‘There is currently not enough information available to determine whether this variant poses a possible risk related to vaccine match and effectiveness. The antigenic characterisation of this new variant is ongoing, and results are expected in the coming weeks.’

 

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of Covid-19 in the community.

 

 

*Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 21 confirmed cases. The figure of 135,884 confirmed cases reflects this.

 

Today’s cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 07 January 2021) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

 

County Today's cases (to midnight 07Jan2021) 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population (25Dec2020 to 07Jan2021) New Cases during last 14 days (25Dec2020 to 07Jan2021)
Ireland 8,248 1087.7 51,795
Monaghan 191 2119.4 1,301
Louth 295 1839.6 2,371
Limerick 538 1609.6 3,137
Donegal 310 1290.9 2,055
Dublin 3,013 1288.5 17,361
Cavan 104 1287.8 981
Cork 1,374 1132.9 6,150
Clare 253 1121.1 1,332
Sligo 70 1068.1 700
Mayo 130 983.1 1,283
Meath 208 968.5 1,889
Waterford 119 958 1,113
Wexford 131 946.4 1,417
Kerry 262 924.8 1,366
Carlow 41 902.8 514
Kildare 314 870.1 1,936
Offaly 72 824.8 643
Longford 34 797.6 326
Kilkenny 41 792.1 786
Laois 55 742.6 629
Westmeath 113 652.2 579
Galway 220 639.8 1,651
Leitrim 43 639.7 205
Roscommon 57 601.1 388
Tipperary 156 577.9 922
Wicklow 104 533.6 760

 

 

NOTE: 

 

7-day incidence 889.4

 

5-day moving average 6,800

 

  • To watch or listen to the Southern Star Coronavirus Podcast, please search ‘Coronavirus Podcast’ at the top right of this page or see the Southern Star on YouTube. The latest podcast looks back at the highlights of 2020, which featured interviews with RTÉ’s Brian O’Donovan and Jacqui Hurley, MEP Deirdre Clune, Oscar-winning producer David Puttnam, authors Carol Drinkwater and Louise O’Neill, and Seven Oceans swimmer Steve Redmond, among others.

 

  • You can subscribe to the Southern Star Coronavirus podcast which is available, in audio and video versions, on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

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