
National news updates on Tuesday 2nd February.
Figures:
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 101 additional deaths related to COVID-19.
83 of these deaths occurred in January.
18 occurred in February.
The median age of those who died is 85 years and the age range is 19-103 years.
There has been a total of 3,418 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.
As of midnight, Monday 1st February, the HPSC has been notified of 879 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
There is now a total of 198,424* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.
Of the cases notified today: 419 are men / 459 are women 56% are under 45 years of age
The median age is 41 years old 383 in Dublin, 79 in Cork, 53 in Galway, 40 in Limerick, 43 in Meath and the remaining 290 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
** As of 2pm today, 1,388 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 207 are in ICU. 45 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said; “This is the highest number of deaths we have reported on any single day of the COVID-19 pandemic so far.
The high mortality we are experiencing as a country at the moment is related to the surge of infection we saw several weeks ago, and the hospitalisations and admissions to ICU that followed as a direct result.
“Although we have seen great improvement in the level of infection being reported, we have a long way to go and incidence needs to decline much further.
The best way to honour those who have died from COVID-19, and those who loved them or provided care for them, is to follow the public health advice.
Stay at home unless absolutely necessary, and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same.
“What we can have control over today is the outlook of this disease in the weeks to come. Your positive actions matter, and they add up at a collective level. Please keep it up.”
The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community. ENDS// *Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 8 confirmed cases. The figure of 198,424 confirmed cases reflects this.
**County data should be considered provisional as the national Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting System (CIDR) is a dynamic system and case details are continually being validated and updated.
Today’s cases, 5-day moving average of new cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 01 February 2021) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)
County |
Today's cases (to midnight 01Feb2021) |
5 day moving average (to midnight 01Feb2021) |
14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population (19Jan2021 to 01Feb2021) |
New Cases during last 14 days (19Jan2021 to 01Feb2021) |
Ireland |
879 |
1,169 |
455.0 |
21,668 |
Monaghan |
17 |
28 |
1011.6 |
621 |
Waterford |
29 |
38 |
664.5 |
772 |
Carlow |
11 |
17 |
660.4 |
376 |
Louth |
23 |
37 |
648.6 |
836 |
Dublin |
383 |
439 |
552.7 |
7,447 |
Wexford |
26 |
55 |
551.7 |
826 |
Mayo |
12 |
28 |
514.1 |
671 |
Meath |
34 |
47 |
479.4 |
935 |
Offaly |
13 |
16 |
472.0 |
368 |
Limerick |
40 |
46 |
437.7 |
853 |
Donegal |
15 |
34 |
428.4 |
682 |
Cavan |
10 |
14 |
417.5 |
318 |
Galway |
53 |
63 |
408.0 |
1,053 |
Kildare |
25 |
46 |
391.0 |
870 |
Cork |
79 |
109 |
384.1 |
2,085 |
Longford |
0 |
8 |
369.4 |
151 |
Laois |
16 |
19 |
348.3 |
295 |
Tipperary |
11 |
27 |
346.6 |
553 |
Sligo |
8 |
13 |
340.3 |
223 |
Wicklow |
19 |
23 |
310.3 |
442 |
Westmeath |
14 |
13 |
286.1 |
254 |
Clare |
12 |
13 |
271.0 |
322 |
Kilkenny |
11 |
9 |
222.7 |
221 |
Kerry |
14 |
16 |
212.6 |
314 |
Leitrim |
<5 |
4 |
199.7 |
64 |
Roscommon |
<5 |
7 |
179.7 |
116 |
Dubai:
Dubai has announced it's closing all bars and pubs for the whole of February after a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Restaurants will also have their opening hours limited, while there'll be restrictions on the number of people allowed at hotels, cinemas and shopping centres.
Influencers have been criticised for remaining at the tourist destination despite strong advice against non essential travel.
Education:
Thousands of children are being left behind in the phased return of special education, according to disability advocacy groups.
It follows yesterday's announcement that special schools and classes will resume later this month at 50 percent capacity.
Advocacy groups say it's welcome news for some families but it doesn't involve many children in mainstream primary school classes or secondary students.
Adam Harris from autism charity, As I Am, says that's disappointing:
Health:
Sinn Fein is 'demanding answers' as to why a senior figure at the Department of Health is set to get an 81 thousand euro pay increase.
The current Secretary General is filling in the role temporarily, while a full time candidate is found.
However the person who takes up that position will receive 292-thousand euro per year, up from the 211-thousand it currently pays.
Sinn Fein TD Mairead Farrell says this is 'simply wrong' when hundreds of thousands of people are on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment:
Holiday:
The Chief Medical Officer says it's 'not realistic' to expect a summer holiday this year.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said yesterday that international travel will largely resume as normal in late June.
10 further covid related deaths were reported last evening, with 1,062 additional cases, 42 of which were in the midlands.
Dr Tony Holohan, says it's not likely that summer holidays will be possible: