Coronavirus: 6 Further Deaths, 456 Cases Confirmed

National news updates on Saturday 14th November.

Latest figures:

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 6 additional deaths related to COVID-19. Of the deaths reported today, all occurred in November.

There has been a total of 1,978 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Friday 13^th November, the HPSC has been notified of 456 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 67,526* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. 

Of the cases notified today:                                                           

• 210 are men / 246 are women
• 69% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 33 years old
• 151 in Dublin, 38 in Limerick, 27 in Cork, 27 in Donegal, 27 in Galway and the remaining 186 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

As of 2pm today, 254 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 32 are in ICU. 11 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “Analysis of today’s data shows the 5-day moving average of case numbers has increased from 354 to 392. We have seen higher numbers in recent days than we expected based on the encouraging trends of the last three weeks. We are concerned that this progress is at risk. We have to remember that the virus is still very active in the community and we cannot let our guard slip. NPHET will continue to monitor the situation closely over the coming days.

“We all need to focus on what we can do to stop the spread of this disease; wash our hands regularly, wear a face covering, keep our distance from others, avoid crowds, limit our social network, know the symptoms, self-isolate and contact a GP if we have them. Stay at home and restrict our movements if you are a close contact of a confirmed case."

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 29 confirmed cases. The figure of 67,526 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 13 November 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

The lowest national 14-day incidence rate was on 3 July 2020 when the rate was 2.98 cases per 100,000 population

Flu vaccine:

A Drogheda GP says less than one fifth of children are being vaccinated against the flu.

It's available free of charge for the first time, and comes in the form of a nasal spray instead of a needle.

The only condition is that the child must be aged between 2 and 12 years old.

GP Amy Morgan says it's a totally different dose to the adult flu vaccine:

Hospital figures:

The number of people being treated in hospital for Covid-19 has dropped by more than a quarter since the end of last month.

254 people are receiving treatment - down from 354 two and a half weeks ago - while 35 people are in ICUs.

The head of the HSE, Paul Reid, says the numbers are really encouraging.

Donegal GP, Dr Denis McCauley, says a fall in the 14 day incidence rate to 129 cases per 100,000 also shows the country's moving in the right direction:

Today, some really encouraging news as the number of #COVID19 cases in hospital are down to 254 with 35 in ICU. Let's hope this is the start of a trend so that these patients can get home for Christmas with their families. We can all help to stop more admissions. @HSELive

— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) November 14, 2020

Northern Ireland:

A former Northern Ireland deputy first minister has accused the DUP of using a form of 'coercive control' to get agreement on Covid-19 restrictions.

Parties voted to extend the North's four week circuit-break lockdown by a further week, but only after days of negotiations during which a number of proposals were vetoed by the DUP.

11 new Covid related deaths and 607 new cases of the virus were confirmed there yesterday.

Former Deputy First Minister and SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, says the DUP's use of a cross-community voting mechanism was 'downright irresponsible':

Non-covid patients:

The Irish Patients' Association is calling for the establishment of a NPHET-style committee for non-Covid patients.

It comes following the release of the hospital waiting list figures, which show there are more people waiting for their first hospital outpatient appointment than ever before. 

A record 613,000 patients are on this list, while 75,000 are waiting for inpatient or daycase treatment. 

Nearly 845,000 people are on some form of waiting list.

IPA spokesman Stephen McMahon says as winter progresses the situation could become critical:

Finances:

The Minister for Public Expenditure says it's 'inevitable' new ways of raising revenues will have to be looked at after Covid-19.

Speaking to the Irish Times, Michael McGrath says there is no current plan to raise taxes, but it would be 'foolish' to rule revenue-raising measures out.

He says government decisions made during the pandemic have led to a larger public service, and this will have to be paid for.

He says a longer term plan for the public finances will be outlined in April.

Mass:

A Fine Gael Senator's welcoming the Taoiseach's comments that he thinks churches will be open in Christmas week.

However, Regina Doherty's asking the National Public Health Emergency Team to allow people to go to mass in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

She says with the right restrictions in place she doesn't see why they should stay shut, and that mass greatly benefits churchgoers after a particularly tough year.

Senator Doherty says Irish people need to be able to worship at this time:

Goods signs in Donegal:

A Donegal GP says it's reassuring that the 14 day incidence rate for the country has dropped.

It's fallen from 135 per hundred thousand people on Thursday to 129.2 yesterday.

There are 482 new cases of coronavirus in the Republic and 7 more people with covid 19 have died.

Dr Denis McCauley says there are good signs in Donegal this week, despite its high incidence rate of 270.7: