Coronavirus: 71 New Cases Confirmed Across Midlands Today

National news updates on Wednesday 21st October.

Latest Figures:

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 3 additional deaths related to COVID-19.

There has now been a total of 1,868 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Tuesday 20th October, the HPSC has been notified of 1,167 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 53,422* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. 

Of the cases notified today;

538 are men / 627 are women

64% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 33 years old

263 in Dublin, 142 in Meath, 137 in Cork, 86 in Cavan and the remaining 539 cases are spread across all remaining counties.

As of 2pm today, 314 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 34 are in ICU. 27 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “The behaviour of every individual is the most effective defence we have against the spread of COVID-19.

“Everyone needs to stay at home, other than for essential reasons. Follow the public health advice and treat everyone that you come into contact with as though they are a close contact of someone with COVID-19 – keep your distance, avoid meeting others.

We are facing a big challenge, but we have faced this challenge before, and that means we know how to suppress this virus, by following the public health advice in everything we do.”

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 1 confirmed case. The figure of 53,422 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 20 October 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

Working from home:

Almost nine in 10 people say working from home is costing them money.

Figures released by taxback.com show staff's household costs have increased as a result of the pandemic and spending more time in their house.

86 percent of people who responded to the survey say they believe working remotely will remain a dominant feature of their job into late 2021.

Online shopping:

A quarter of Irish people bought something online for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, three quarters of people made a purchase online since March - while more than half saying they will continue to use the internet to buy items.

Research from PayPal shows that 59 percent of Irish people bought products from international sellers during the first lockdown.

What does 'self-isolate' mean? Stay indoors and completely avoid contact with other people - including those you live with.

If you live with others, stay alone in a room with a window you can open.

Self-isolate when there is a high risk you could spread #COVID19 to others. pic.twitter.com/dFwtwdg9H3

— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) October 20, 2020

Mental health:

The HSE say it is working to ensure mental health services are protected for those who need them throughout Level 5 restrictions.

Dr. Siobhán Ní Bhriain from the executive outlines how the measures have affected different age groups in different ways:

Schools:

Health officials have been defending the decision to keep schools and childcare settings open while the rest of the country prepares to enter lockdown.

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health said it's proven that schools are not key drivers of the spread of the virus.

Heather Burns says the World Health Organisation recommends that school closures should be a last resort:

Tourism:

Ireland's tourism industry's facing revenue loses of €5 billion this year.

The Tourism Recovery Taskforce says the sector provided €9 billion to the economy last year, but this year it's likely to be less than €3 billion.

It says 180,000 jobs have been lost or are at risk this year, and the impact of Covid-19's likely to continue well into 2021.

It'll appear before an Oireachtas committee later to provide details of a new three year recovery plan for Irish tourism.

Chair of the Tourism Committee, Fianna Fáil's Niamh Smyth, says the roadmap is vital for struggling businesses:

Shops:

Retail Excellence says it's a disaster that shops are being forced to close during what would be their busiest time of the year.

Level 5 will take effect from midnight tonight and continue until December 1st.

Managing Director, Duncan Graham, says being closed for that length of time isn't sustainable for many retailers:

Contact tracing:

Thousands of people who tested positive for Covid-19 over the weekend will be asked to do their own contact tracing.

The HSE is to send a text to 2,500 people in the coming days to tell others they've been in close contact.

HSE contact tracers faced an unprecedented number of newly infected people and weren't able to keep up with the demand for contact tracing from Friday until Sunday last weekend.

Those who tested positive over the weekend are to get a text message which will ask them to tell their close contacts to phone their GP.

The Irish Times reports a decision was made not to get in touch with those who tested positive for their close contacts as it would've just led to delay.

The papers says people over the age of 70, and schoolchildren are among the people who are affected by the backlog.

Its feared there may be up to 8,000 close contacts affected.

Fines:

People could be fined 2,500 euro and sentenced to 6 months in prison for having a house party under new legislation to enforce Covid-19 restrictions.

This new law, which was approved by Cabinet last night, will see gardáí given the power to issue fines to those found breaching health rules.

People who aren't wearing a face mask on public transport or in shops, or those who travel beyond the 5 kilometre limit could face an on-the-spot fine of up to 500 euro.

For other offences like holding a house party, a graduated system of fines will apply, with the maximum being 2,500 euro and/or up to six months in prison for repeat offenders.

The new bill will now go before the Oireachtas for approval this week.

It's not expected to take effect by the time Level 5 restrictions come into force.
 

Level 5:

Level five restrictions will come into effect for the whole country at midnight tonight.

People will not be allowed further than 5km from their home unless it's essential or on compassionate grounds, with fines to be introduced in the coming weeks. 

All non-essential retail, hairdressers and barbers must close, while pubs, cafes and restaurants can offer a takeaway service only.

13 additional deaths and 1,269 new cases were confirmed yesterday evening.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tony Holohan says schools should still reopen after the midterm break: