Coronavirus: 56 New Covid-19 Cases Confirmed In Ireland

National news updates on Monday 17th August.

Latest Figures:

There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today.

There has now been a total of 1,774 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Sunday 17th August, the HPSC has been notified of 56 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 27,313 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. 

Of the cases notified today;29 are men / 27 are women 79% are under 45 years of age, 35 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case 12 cases have been identified as community transmission

26 in Kildare, 13 in Dublin and the rest of the 17 cases are in Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Laois, Longford, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Westmeath and Wicklow.

The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

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

The National Public Health Emergency Team are meeting this evening to consider further recommendations for Government.

All statistics measured at midnight on Saturday 15 August show there have been 682 cases confirmed in Westmeath, 599 in Offaly and Laois has had 358. 

Note: The acting Chief Medical Officer, Ronan Glynn, releases figures for the counties with the highest number of cases as of midnight, and the latest county by county breakdown available from the Department of Health are  measured at midnight on Saturday 15th August. 

Restrictions:

The Health Minister says the decision to put further restrictions in place is made as a last resort. 

Stephen Donnelly says he's very hopeful the additional measures in place in Kildare, Laois and Offaly will be lifted as planned on Sunday.

The National Public Health Emergency Team is meeting this evening to discuss its response to the recent rise in confirmed cases. 

Minister Donnelly says action taken on the advice of NPHET will be made with the entire country in mind:

New Zealand:

The New Zealand general election has been pushed back by four weeks due to Covid-19.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met opposition parties to discuss the move, which has been decided in the interest of public health.

It will now take place on October 17th, nearly a month after its initial date of September 19th.

Prime Minister Ardern says she felt it was necessary to have all parties involved in the decision:

Pub:

The owner of a business in Kildare that had to shut down because of the local lockdown, has described the scenes from the Dublin bar as a 'kick in the teeth'

Brian Flanagan, owner of Silken Thomas in Kildare Town, says the area is suffering because of the restrictions:

Ryanair:

Ryanair is cutting a fifth of its flights for the next two months after travel restrictions affected bookings.

The airline says the decision's been driven by "uncertainty over coronavirus rates" in some European countries.

They've called for the government to include counties with lower Covid-19 rates than Ireland, like Germany and the UK on the green list.

Northern Ireland:

There have been 39 new cases of Covid-19 in the North.

It brings the total number of cases there to 6,430.

No new deaths were recorded in Northern Ireland in the past 24 hours, and the death toll remains at 558.

There are no patients being treated in intensive care units for the virus, north of the border.

Exam controversy:

A government TD's urging the Education Minister to rethink predictive grading after it led to the downgrading of UK students.

280,000 who sat their A-levels were marked down by an algorithm used by England's exams regulator, which then withdrew guidance on how to appeal.

Some students are now taking legal action against the British government and regulator - as they've missed out on places at university.

Green Party TD Patrick Costello says the issue cannot be allowed happen here:

WHO on schools:

It may be necessary to postpone the reopening of schools in areas that have seen a significant rise in cases of Covid-19. 

That's the view of the World Health Organisation, which says Ireland needs to keep on top of the virus.

The WHO's Special Envoy on Covid-19, David Nabarro says it's important to get children back to school:

UK trial:

More than 100,000 people in the UK have signed up for future coronavirus vaccine trials.

The British government's calling on even more volunteers to join the NHS research registry.

The chairwoman of the task force responsible says she's delighted by the initial response, and insists the trials are safe.

Priority groups are being particularly encouraged to come forward - including those who are older, from ethnic minority backgrounds and frontline health workers.

Europe:

Restrictions are being brought back in across Italy, after a rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus infections.

Nightclubs have been ordered to close - and it's become compulsory to wear a face mask outdoors in some areas.

Ministers there say the situation across Europe influenced their decision - France has recorded more than three thousand new COVID-19 cases for second day in a row.

Bars and cafes are shutting in Greece again, too.

Stopping the spread:

The National Public Health Emergency Team will meet later to discuss what further measures are needed to control the spread of Covid-19.

It's after a further spike was recorded over the weekend, 200 on Saturday and 66 yesterday.

There has also been outrage over a video at a bar in Dublin city centre appearing to show people ignoring public health advice.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn last night said some people are socialising "recklessly" and that "cannot continue". 

Anthony Staines, Professor in Health Systems at DCU, hopes NPHET tells government to change course, and quickly:

David Cullinane, Sinn Féin's health spokesman, says the Minister for Health has made several announcements about what he plans to change. 

He says Stephen Donnelly needs to release the specifics:

Applications are open for the newly revamped Enterprise Support Grant – designed to assist the self-employed as they get back on their feet following #COVID19

More information here: https://t.co/7n5u9oFL7d#COVID19ireland pic.twitter.com/5MLjVtV0EB

— welfare.ie (@welfare_ie) August 17, 2020

Local figures:

66 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the Republic yesterday, with zero new deaths.

27,257 cases of the virus have now been recorded in Ireland.

Two thirds are under the age of 45, with 12 confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or close contacts of a confirmed case.

21 in Kildare, 16 in Dublin, 6 in Limerick, and the rest of the 23 cases are in Laois, Offaly, Clare, Donegal, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary and Wicklow.

Statistics measured at midnight on Friday 14 August show there have been 682 cases confirmed in Westmeath, 597 in Offaly and Laois has had 355. 

Note: The acting Chief Medical Officer, Ronan Glynn, releases figures for the counties with the highest number of cases as of midnight, and the latest county by county breakdown available from the Department of Health are  measured at midnight on Friday 14 August.