Coronavirus: 13 Further Deaths, 1,718 New Cases

National news updates on Wednesday 30th December.

Latest figures:

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 13 additional deaths related to COVID-19.

There has been a total of 2,226 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Tuesday 29th December, the HPSC has been notified of 1,718 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 90,157 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. 

Of the cases notified today;

  • 853 are men / 863 are women
  • 66% are under 45 years of age
  • The median age is 34 years old
  • 358 in Dublin, 164 in Cork, 155 in Louth, 150 in Donegal, 112 in Galway and the remaining 779 cases are spread across all other counties. 

As of 2pm today 455 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 37 are in ICU. 60 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. 

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; ““Ireland is no longer in a containment phase and is once again in a mitigation phase. Given the current levels of transmission in the community, every individual should consider themselves potentially infectious.

“It is essential that we all limit our contacts to our own household now, restrict our movements and do not give COVID-19 any further opportunities to spread.

“Everyone needs to stay at home other than for essential work or care. This is not the time to be visiting other houses.”

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said; “The reproduction number remains very high and is currently estimated at 1.6 – 1.8. The growth rate is estimated to be 7-10% per day with a doubling time of 7-10 days.

“We must take action immediately to prevent an almost unimaginable scenario, where case numbers in 7 to 10 days time are twice what they are today. Stay home.”

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 29 December 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

 

County

 

Today's cases (to midnight 29Dec2020)

 

14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population (16Dec2020 to 29Dec2020)

 

New Cases during last 14 days (16Dec2020 to 29Dec2020)

 

Ireland

 

1,718

 

272.7

 

12,987

 

Donegal

 

150

 

520.1

 

828

 

Monaghan

 

44

 

514.8

 

316

 

Louth

 

155

 

497.3

 

641

 

Limerick

 

83

 

406.4

 

792

 

Wexford

 

53

 

381.4

 

571

 

Kilkenny

 

57

 

310.4

 

308

 

Dublin

 

358

 

308.5

 

4,157

 

Cavan

 

66

 

298.0

 

227

 

Kerry

 

30

 

295.2

 

436

 

Sligo

 

32

 

271.6

 

178

 

Meath

 

96

 

269.2

 

525

 

Laois

 

23

 

237.3

 

201

 

Carlow

 

19

 

237.1

 

135

 

Cork

 

164

 

234.7

 

1,274

 

Mayo

 

66

 

209.2

 

273

 

Kildare

 

44

 

203.6

 

453

 

Waterford

 

26

 

185.9

 

216

 

Galway

 

112

 

183.3

 

473

 

Clare

 

40

 

180.1

 

214

 

Westmeath

 

29

 

167.8

 

149

 

Wicklow

 

20

 

141.8

 

202

 

Roscommon

 

7

 

123.9

 

80

 

Tipperary

 

23

 

115.3

 

184

 

Offaly

 

14

 

106.5

 

83

 

Longford

 

<5

 

100.3

 

41

 

Leitrim

 

<5

 

93.6

 

30

 

 

Second vaccine approved in UK:

The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine has become the second coronavirus jab to be approved for use in the UK.

The Irish government has ordered 3.3 million doses of the vaccine once it has been approved by the EMA.

The British Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the first jabs will be rolled out from Monday.

He says it means there's light at the end of the tunnel:

Results from clinical trials show that it is up to 90 percent effective in preventing Covid 19 and unlike the Pfizer vaccine, it doesn't need to be stored at ultra-low temperatures.

GP Vinesh Patel says it's a game changer:

Criticism of Trump:

US president elect Joe Biden has criticised the outgoing Trump administration by saying the coronavirus vaccine isn't being distributed fast enough.

He's also warned people "things will get worse before they get better".

Meanwhile in Colorado, the US has identified its first case of the new, more contagious Covid-19 variant originally found in the UK.

Mr Biden says the current rate of jabs is falling behind Donald Trump's targets:

 

Fantastic news that all nursing homes will have first round of vaccination complete by end of January. 538 facilities...

Posted by Peter Burke TD on Sunday, 27 December 2020

US infected:

The new variant of the coronavirus first detected in the UK-  has now reached the US. 

Authorities in Colorado say they've discovered the strain in a man in his 20s. 

He hasn't travelled recently and no close contacts have yet been identified. 

The man remains in isolation, and contact tracing continues. 

The World Health Organization has said that while the variant may spread more easily, it isn't necessarily more dangerous or deadly.

Schools:

The Irish National Teachers' Organisation is calling on the Minister for Education to extend primary schools' Christmas holi

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