Coronavirus: 1,205 New Cases, Three More Deaths Confirmed

National news updates on Thursday 15th October.

Figures:

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 3 additional deaths related to COVID-19.

There has been a total of 1,838 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Wednesday 14th October the HPSC has been notified of 1,205 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

There is now a total of 46,429* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today; 614 are men / 590 are women

71% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 34 years old

288 in Dublin, 173 Cork, 123 in Meath, 97 in Galway 63 in Cavan and the remaining 461 cases are spread across all remaining counties.

As of 2pm today 241 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 29 are in ICU. 24 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said; “There has been further increases across all key indicators of COVID-19 and the growth rate of the epidemic has accelerated since NPHET last met. “Cases notified over the past week have increased by 82% compared with the previous 7 days, from 3,514 to 6,382 cases. “The positivity rate over the past 7 days is now 6.2% and is continuing to increase.” “

The 14-day incidence in those aged 65 years and older has increased from 92.9 per 100,000 population on 7th October to 125 per 100,000 population on the 14th of October.

“The number of hospitalisations are increasing faster than the exponential growth modelling predicted.

This indicates a rapidly deteriorating disease trajectory nationally.”

Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said; “There is now a deteriorating epidemiological landscape across the EU. Many EU countries are experiencing increasing hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths related to COVID-19.

“Our priorities remain focused on protecting the medically and socially vulnerable, protecting childcare and education settings and preventing unnecessary disruption to non-COVID health and social care services.”

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said “The reproduction number appears to have increased and is now at 1.4 nationally. Modelling shows that if current trends continue, by October 31st, the number of cases notified daily would be in the range of 1,800 – 2,500 cases with over 400 people in hospital.”

Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE, said; “The challenge we have now is much greater than earlier this year, as we are trying to suppress COVID-19 while maintaining our non – COVID services and providing safe environments in our acute settings.

“The higher the community transmission the more difficult it is to protect medically vulnerably people in all heathcare settings. We appeal to everyone to play their part in protecting patients, healthcare workers and frontline services.”

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 19 confirmed cases. The figure of 46,429 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 14 October 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

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  Coronavirus National News Thursday 15th October

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  Worldwide:
  
  Nearly 600 million children across the world completely missed out on financial support during the Covid-19 pandemic.
  
  A survey by Save the Children has found more than 1-point-2 billion kids in low and middle-income countries are now living without proper access to education, food or water.
  
  The charity claims 68 nations did not provide any additional support to families who were pushed into poverty.
  
  US:
  
  The US President's son tested positive for Covid-19 - along with his parents.
  
  Melania Trump revealed the 14-year-old was diagnosed at the same time as they were - but had no symptoms.
  
  The First Lady says he's since tested negative. 
  
  Schools:
  
  There were twice as many clusters of Covid-19 linked to schools last week as the week before. 
  
  There were 25 last week, compared to just 12 during the previous seven days. 
  
  There were also 352 clusters in private households last week, which is down slightly.
  
  Labour's education spokesman, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, says the outbreaks associated with schools are very concerning. 
  
  
  
  Timetables:
  
  The Department of Education says reduced timetables for children should only be considered in exceptional circumstances. 
  
  Draft guidelines for schools will be discussed at the Oireachtas education committee today. 
  
  They say reduced timetables should only be considered in very limited and short-term circumstances, such as for medical reasons. 
  
  Schools must get parental consent, while the child should also be consulted.
  
  Sinn Féin's education spokesman, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, says the system's currently being abused. 
  
  
  
  Restrictions:
  
  From midnight tonight, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan will be placed on level four restrictions until November 10th.
  
  It means all non-essential retail will close, only essential workers should travel to work and gyms and hairdressers will close.
  
  The entire country has also been placed on an enhanced level three, where all visits to homes or gardens are banned with some essential exemptions.
  
  Only up to 6 people from two households can meet outdoors and the exemptions allowing club championships to continue have been removed. 
  
  Taoiseach Micheál Martin says there will also be more of a focus on working from home:
  
  
  
  10,000 retail jobs could be lost in Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal as a result of the new restrictions.
  
  Duncan Graham, the managing director of Retail Excellence, says last night's announcement was a huge blow to the sector:
  
  
  
  Local figures:
  
  There are a record 1,095 new cases of Covid-19 in the Republic, and five more deaths. 
  
  246 of the cases are in Dublin, with 185 in Meath, 128 in Cavan and 118 in Cork - with the remaining infections spread across all the other counties.
  
  There was also a record number of cases in the North yesterday, with 1,217 new cases. 
  
  Westmeath had nine new cases confirmed yesterday, with an incidence rate of 171, while that figure is 142 in Laois and 135 in Offaly. 
  
  Both Laois and Offaly recorded less than five new cases. 
  
  152 new cases were detected in the Lake county in the last two weeks, with the Faithful county having a total of 115 and Laois recorded 111. 
  
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