Coronavirus: A Further 395 Cases And One Death Confirmed

National news updates on Thursday 12th November.

Latest figures:

There are 395 new cases and one additional death. 

There has been a total of 1,965 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Wednesday 11th November, the HPSC has been notified of 395 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 66,632 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. 

Of the cases notified today:

197 are men / 198 are women

65% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 35 years old

132 in Dublin, 31 in Cork, 27 in Donegal, 27 in Limerick, 27 in Galway and the remaining 151 cases are spread across 18 other counties.

As of 2pm today 279 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 39 are in ICU. 20 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “Not every part of the country has experienced the same reductions in disease incidence. For example, Donegal’s 14- day incidence is at 281 per 100,000, compared to the national average of 135 per 100,000.

“The country as a whole can succeed in suppressing this disease to low levels in the coming weeks. We have achieved a great deal of suppression over the Level 5 period, the coming weeks offer us an opportunity to drive transmission down further.”

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.

Today’s cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 10 November 2020) 

Christmas:

People have been advised not to book flights home to Ireland for Christmas by the Tánaiste.

Leo Varadkar has said it's too early to be able to say whether people will be able to travel home for the holidays.

The Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has also refused to be drawn on what the regulations will be at Christmas.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has warned Irish people abroad not to make plans to return yet:

Northern Ireland:

After days of wrangling over what happens when their four-week 'circuit-breaker' ends, it's emerged politicians in the North were working to the wrong deadline.

Restrictions were seemingly due to end at midnight on Thursday.

But ministers locked in debate have just discovered they don't actually expire until midnight on Friday.

Sky's David Blevins is in Belfast:

Anti-Body:

A rapid Covid-19 antibody test has been found to be far less accurate than first thought.

It uses blood from a finger-prick, and can give results within 20 minutes, however scientists believe it can produce false positives.

Of people known to have had Covid-19 - it has an accuracy of 92.5 percent, but this drops to 84.7 when it's not known.

Norn Iron:

Northern Ireland's four week circuit-breaker lockdown is due to end at midnight tonight.

It comes as discussions remain deadlocked within the Stormont Executive on whether or not to extend the restrictions.

The DUP has vetoed a number of proposals aimed at an extension, despite agreement from other parties.

Coronavirus cases remain high in the north while all hospitals are currently at close to, or above, full capacity.

USA:

New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, has imposed a new round of restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus as infection rates and hospitalisations soar.

The state was the epicentre of the U.S. outbreak in its early stages.

Bars, restaurants and gyms in New York will have to shut down at 10 p.m. and the number of people who can attend private parties is capped at ten.

The new measures, which take effect tomorrow, come a day after California and several states across the Midwest tightened restrictions as well.

Restrictions:

The Taoiseach has come under pressure from members of his own party to move to Level 2 restrictions for Christmas.

Yesterday Micheal Martin said the target is Level 3 once out of lockdown in December, so businesses can re-open.

But at a meeting of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party last night, there was a 'general consensus' to go further - allowing travel between counties and more visitors to a home.

It comes as NPHET meets later to review the current progress under Level 5.

Professor of Public Health at the University of Bristol, Gabriel Scally, says it's important not to get ahead of ourselves when reopening next month:

Spit Hoods:

Amnesty International wants Gardaí to stop using spit hoods after policing authorities in Northern Ireland said the PSNI should withdraw them.

A new report by the Northern Ireland Policing Board endorses a review by the PSNI which says spit hoods do not prevent Covid-19 transmission.

Yesterday, Gardaí said the devices have been used 6 times here in the last month.

Colm O'Gorman, from Amnesty International, says their use was only meant as emergency measure at the start of the pandemic.

Drive-Thru:

A drive-thru Covid-19 testing facility will open at Cork and Shannon airports today. 

The facilites are being rolled out to support the new EU traffic light system for international travel which came into effect on Sunday. 

The facilities will be located in the airport's carparks. In Cork; at the express red overflow car park and in Shannon - in bus coach park 2. 

Passengers or anyone who wants a test can book online at Covidcheck.ie; with costs varying depending on the type of test opted for. 

The drive-thru is designed for minimal contact, with those being tested only having to roll down their window briefly to be swabbed. 

Turnaround times vary from a few hours to a few days, again depending on the type of test chosen. 

Those waiting on results can track their test online just like a package arriving in the post. 

If the test is positive RocDoc - who operate the facilities - will call and will notify the HSE for contact tracing purposes.