Coronavirus: 67 New Cases Confirmed

National news updates on Friday 14th 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 Thursday 13th August, the HPSC has been notified of 67 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 26,995* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. 

Of the cases notified today;

35 are men / 32 are women

70% are under 45 years of age

38 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case

16 cases have been identified as community transmission

18 in Dublin, 17 in Kildare, 9 in Clare, 5 in Limerick, and the rest of the 18 cases are in Carlow, Cork, Donegal, Laois, Longford, Offaly, Tipperary, Wexford, 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.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; "We have seen cases rising all across the country this week. We must continue to do all we can to avoid a return to where we were in March and April.”

“We have also seen an increase in the average number of contacts for confirmed cases up to 6. It is crucial to keep your social contacts low to limit the spread of this disease.”

“We all have a responsibility to stop this. Social distancing applies to all age groups - wherever you are this weekend, keep your distance."

*Validation of data at the HPSC led to the denotification of one confirmed case. The figure of 26,995 reflects this.

Creches:

A meeting is taking place later this month to discuss how to control outbreaks of Covid-19 in creches. 

Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman has agreed to meet the Federation of Early Childhood Providers. 

They will also discuss creche closures and the lack of support for children with additional needs. 

UK:

A meeting is taking place later this month to discuss how to control outbreaks of Covid-19 in creches. 

Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman has agreed to meet the Federation of Early Childhood Providers. 

They will also discuss creche closures and the lack of support for children with additional needs. 

First dates:

First Dates Ireland is set to be very differently when it returns next year. 

The upcoming series will be filmed next month under strict social distancing measures. 

The new rules include no hugging, kissing or touching in order to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19. 

Hillary O'Donovan from Coco Content, the producers of the show, says it will still be an enjoyable experience: 

Northern Ireland:

74 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the North.

That brings the total number to 6,299.

One coronavirus related death has been confirmed in the in the past 24 hours in Northern Ireland.

A total of 558 people have died as a result of the virus in the north of Ireland.

New Zealand:

Covid-19 restrictions have been extended in New Zealand for another 12 days.

It follows an outbreak in the country's largest city - Auckland.

30 new cases have been confirmed in a cluster in Auckland.

It still isn't clear how the disease reentered the country after health officials can't link it to the border.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said there's no plan by the Government there to enforce a national lockdown again.

There have been cases identified outside of Auckland - however Sam Sachdeva who is Political Editor with NewsroomNZ says people are remaining optimistic.

The total number of confirmed cases in the country stands at 1,251 - while there have been 22 deaths associated with Covid-19.

Schoolbus:

School buses are set to operate at full capacity when schools reopen.  

There will be no reduction in numbers as a result of covid 19. 

An exception to the social distancing rule is being made for school buses because students are being pre-asigned seats next to a sibling or a child for their class group.  

Maeve Fanning, President of the National Parents Council - Post Primary, says its concerned that children from different schools are often on buses:

The Labour Party says it's worrying there will be no social-distancing on school buses. 

Public transport is operating at 50 per cent capacity, but school buses will carry the same number of students as normal when school returns. 

The Department of Education says children will have to sit in pre-assigned seats, next to the same child and those aged 13 and over will have to wear face masks. 

Dr Denis McCauley, from the Irish Medical Organisation, says he can understand the logic:

New Zealand:

Covid-19 restrictions in New Zealand have been extended for another two weeks.

It comes as new cases linked to an outbreak in Auckland have been identified, as well as infections in other parts of the country.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said it is unknown how the disease got to the country as there doesn't seem to be a link to the border.

She says cases will continue to be identified:

Britain:

Britain has changed its quarantine rules, meaning those returning to the country from France, the Netherlands and Malta will have to isolate for two weeks.

The change will take effect from 4am tomorrow morning.

It's due to fears over rising numbers of coronavirus cases.

This British man is on holiday in Paris - he says it has left him in the lurch:

Parental Costs:

Young adults who've returned home during the Covid-19 lockdown have cost their parents almost 3,000 euro.

A survey in the UK has found the average household's costs have soared - thanks to subscriptions to services including Netflix and Amazon Prime, extra food and alcohol shopping, and energy bills.

Nearly three in 10 mums and dads said it was worth the money.

Case Breakdown:

92 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Ireland last night but there were no new deaths associated with the virus.

72 percent of those new were detected in people under the age of 45.

Out of the 92 new cases, 48 are women and 43 are men.

The National Public Health Emergency Team also says 43 of the cases reported are associated with a known outbreak of the virus or are a close contact of a confirmed case.

12 are associated with community transmission

Dublin and Kildare had the highest number of newly reported cases at 24 each.

Meanwhile as we approach week 2 of the local lockdown in three midland counties, the figures show that out of 904 cases over the last 14 days to midnight Weds, Kildare had 325, Offaly 136 and Laois had 63.

Sole Traders:

From today, sole traders left out of work by Covid-19 can apply for up to a thousand euro in grant aid from their local social welfare office to help with business costs. 

A total of twelve million euro has been set aside for the Enterprise Support Grant, aimed at tradespeople, taxi drivers and others who can't get the Restart grant.  

To qualify, a business owner must have come off the Pandemic Unemployment Payment after May 17th -- when lockdown was first eased. 

Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys explains how to apply for the money:

Meat Factories:

Any meat factory affected by a Covid-19 cluster should be automatically forced to close, according to the Social Democrats.

Meat factory representatives told the Special Covid-19 Committee hearing yesterday they are in favour of new testing regimes to keep factories operational.

Social Democrats TD for Cork South West, Holly Cairns, says the health of workers and local communities should be put first along with help for those affected by closures:

Local figures:

Statistics from the Department of Health measured at midnight on Tuesday 11 August show there are 343 confirmed cases in Laois, Offaly has 592 and Westmeath's total stands at 682.