Covid-19 Thursday: 15 deaths, 310 new cases

THE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 15 additional deaths related to Covid-19.

There has been a total of 2,117 Covid-19-related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Wednesday 9th December, the HPSC has been notified of 310 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 75,203* confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

• 162 are men / 148 are women
• 61% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 39 years old
• 80 in Dublin, 27 in Donegal, 25 in Louth, 15 in Kilkenny, 15 in Waterford, 15 in Tipperary, 15 in Meath and the remaining 118 cases are spread across 16 other counties.

As of 2pm today 202 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 36 are in ICU. There were 15 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer, Department of Health, said: ‘Tomorrow marks 14 days to Christmas Day. To ensure the safest possible interaction with your family over Christmas, consider restricting your movements now.

‘Risk assess the environments you plan to be in over the next two weeks; are they compliant with public health measures? Can you keep a two metre distance? Are people wearing face coverings? Now is the time to make decisions about what interactions are necessary and pose the lowest risk to you, your family and friends over Christmas.’

Dr Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, Department of Health, said: ‘It is important that the encouraging plans for vaccine rollout in 2021 does not distract from the actions we need to take as we face into December 2020. A vaccine will have no positive impact on the trajectory of this disease over the coming weeks and does not give immunity to people over the Christmas period. We must not allow COVID-19 to spread through our communities now, after all the efforts we have made throughout 2020 and how close we are to beginning to vaccinate.’

Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said: ‘The reproduction number is now estimated to be close to 1.0. This is a testament to the very large number of people who continue to limit their contacts and follow public health advice. Please be mindful that this remains a very dangerous virus, especially for vulnerable and older persons. We have the know-how and the determination to keep suppressing this disease, to protect our family and friends over Christmas.’

Professor Karina Butler, chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, said: ‘As we await final analysis of vaccines by the European Medicines Agency, the FDA analysis of the data around Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has affirmed its efficacy. These are encouraging signs. However, it is important to ensure full EMA approval before vaccine roll out in Ireland.’

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 7 confirmed case. The figure of 75,203 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 09 December 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

• 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. This week’s podcast is an interview with Bandon native and Sunday Times political correspondent and columnist Justine McCarthy. Justine, a highly respected campaigning journalist, talks about growing up in West Cork, starting her  journalism career in The Southern Star and some of the incredible stories she has covered in her wide-ranging and very impressive career. And this week's music – from Clare singer Susan O’Neill and singer-songwriter Mick Flannery – is their duet Baby Talk,  which won ‘Best Original Folk Track of The Year’ at the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards last week.

• 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.