News updates for Sunday 6th December 2020.
Latest figures:
There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today.
There has now been a total of 2,099 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.
As of midnight Saturday 5th December, the HPSC has been notified of 301 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 74,246* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.
Of the cases notified today:
- 133 are men / 168 are women
- 64% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 32 years old
- 119 in Dublin, 32 in Donegal, 16 in Cork,13 in Kildare,13 in Kilkenny and the remaining 108 cases are spread across 18 other counties.
Six new cases have been confirmed in Offaly, it’s incidence rate is at 59.
Laois has no new cases and has a rate of 55.
There was also no increase in Westmeath and has the third lowest incidence rate at 23.
As of 2pm today, 231 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 28 are in ICU. 8 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Schools:
The country's main teaching union says an delay to going back to school should be considered if there's a fresh Covid-19 spike after Christmas.
The European Centre for Disease Control warned yesterday dates like Thanksgiving in Canada and the 4th of July in the United States had caused surges already.
It's advised extensions to school holidays or a period of remote learning at the start of term.
The ASTI's general secretary Ann Piggott says a decision on a measure like that might be needed before Christmas Eve:
Christmas:
A public health expert is warning people to be very careful when out meeting people over Christmas.
It comes after restaurants, cafes and gastropubs reopened on Friday under Level 3 restrictions.
There are 456 new cases of Covid 19, but the figure is higher due to an IT glitch that led to a reduced number of cases reported in recent days.
DCU Professor of Health Systems, Anthony Staines says meeting too many people is a bad idea:
Local figures:
456 new cases of covid 19 have been confirmed in the Republic and 13 more people with the virus have died.
A technical issue led to a reduced number of cases reported in recent days and this is reflected in a higher number of cases today.
There are 197 new infections in Dublin, 37 in Donegal, 33 in Limerick, 21 in Louth and 20 in Kilkenny - the rest are spread across 21 other counties.
The country's 14 day incidence rate has risen to 80.9.
14 cases were confirmed in Offaly, and Laois' total increased by 9.
Less than five cases were reported in Westmeath, which continues to have the third lowest incidence rate in the country at 25.
Offaly's is 51, while Laois has a rate of 56.
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