Coronavirus: Four More Deaths Confirmed

News updates for Sunday 20th December 2020.

Latest figures:

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 4 additional deaths related to COVID-19.

There has been a total of 2,158 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Saturday 19th December, the HPSC has been notified of 764 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 79,542* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today;

403 are men / 355 are women

67% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 34 years old

284 in Dublin, 70 in Limerick, 52 in Donegal, 44 in Cork, 37 in Wexford and the remaining 277 cases are spread across another 20 counties.

19 of the cases are in Laois, Westmeath has had another 8 people diagnosed with the virus.

No new cases were reported in Offaly. 

Laois now has an incidence rate of 174, while Offaly's is at 65 and Westmeath has a rate of 45.

As of 2pm today 233 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 29 are in ICU. 15 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, the Department of Health said: “Every indicator of disease severity is moving in the wrong direction, more rapidly than we had anticipated. We have particularly strong concerns about the prospect of inter-generational mixing around the festive season. On 11th December the 7-day incidence rate for people aged 19-44 was 106 per 100,000 population, by yesterday this rate had more than doubled to 217 per 100,000. If these younger people come into contact with their loved ones over the age of 65, we could see a spike in infections in this more vulnerable group. This would lead to very a serious pattern of disease, hospitalisations, ICU admissions and unnecessary deaths.”

“If you have been socialising in the past few weeks or over this weekend, consider your Christmas plans carefully. Is it responsible to meet with your family over 65 later this week, if you have not kept your contacts low? Should you cancel your plans? We have the very real prospect of COVID-19 vaccines on the horizon. Ensure that your loved ones stay alive to receive them, by keeping your distance from them if you have not restricted your movements to this point. As difficult as it may seem, staying away from older family this Christmas will protect them - and it would be an exceptional sacrifice made for the common good.”

Flights:

Transport Minister Eamon Ryan's confirmed a 48-hour ban on flights from mainland Britain starting midnight tonight.

Ferry connections with Britain will be for cargo only.

UK:

The British health secretary says the new variant of coronavirus is "out of control" and strict new measures will be in place for some time.

Matt Hancock is defending the new Christmas rules, saying the British government was told on Friday the virus is spreading more quickly.

Millions of families in the UK have had their holiday plans cancelled.

Northern Ireland:

The Northern Ireland Executive is to meet at nine o'clock tonight.

The North is due to go into lockdown on Stephen's Day, including an 8pm curfew.

It comes as 505 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed there today, as well as 13 further deaths.

There are 421 people with the virus in the North's hospitals.

30 patients are currently in ICU.

New strain:

The Government says virus experts at UCD haven't detected the new strain of Covid-19 yet in Ireland so far.

Officials in Britain say it's as much as 70% more transmissible -- prompting lockdowns in London and southeast England.

It already accounts for over a quarter of London's current cases, but isn't thought to cause more serious illness.

In the Republic, 527 more people tested positive, and five more patients were confirmed to have died.

Professor Gerry Killeen, infectious diseases expert at UCC, says the viral strain we have in Ireland now will cause us enough trouble:

Hospitality:

There are calls for the Government to provide a clear roadmap for hospitality businesses over plans to close the sector before New Year's Eve.

It's expected restaurants and bars serving food will be told to shut from December 30th following NPHET advice.

The Cabinet will meet on Tuesday to discuss the latest recommendations.

Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice says a decision needs to be made quickly so businesses can plan:

Local figures:

The country's 14 day incidence rate has risen to 102.4.

There are 527 new cases of covid 19 in the Republic and 5 more people with the virus have died.

207 people are in hospital with covid 19, 28 of whom are in intensive care.

There are 191 new cases in Dublin, 54 in Cork, 44 in Donegal, 32 in Wexford and 27 in Kilkenny.

The remaining 179 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

11 of the new cases are in Laois, with both Offaly and Westmeath reporting less than five new positive tests.

Laois remains with the sixth highest incidence rate in the country on 152. Offaly is at 73, while Westmeath has the third lowest at 36.