1,608 people have now died from Coronavirus in Ireland – an increase of four from yesterday.
Not all of these people passed away today – this is the number that were reported to the Department of Health today.
These people will have passed away in recent days and not just today.
While there has been a total of 57 new cases of Coronavirus have been diagnosed in Ireland today.
This is an increase on the 24,582 cases from yesterday and takes the overall total to 24,639.
Prof Luke O’Neill: ‘It’s definitely beatable, Covid-19’
‘Black Death went away, 1918 flu went away, Swine flu went away’ – so will Covid-19, says Professor Luke O’Neill.
In a brilliant interview with the Irish Times, the Trinity College biochemist is convinced we will eventually beat the disease.
He said: “The history of all infectious diseases tells us this. The Black Death went away. The 1918 flu went away. Swine flu went away. It’s definitely beatable, this one.
“The number of vaccines being tested is the same in the total history of malaria. If the vaccine doesn’t work, and there’s still a risk of that, we have the anti-inflammatories coming down the pipeline, like our one. We have the antivirals. And then the other hope is antibodies themselves, that we’ll develop immunity.”
On immunity, he says, “the best evidence we have so far is in monkeys. They infected monkeys and they couldn’t reinfect them. Now we’re not monkeys, so it’s not 100 per cent, but there’s no good evidence out there yet that people are not protected from a second infection.”
Bed situation
The HSE says the number of vacant hospital beds in public acute facilities is down from 2,500 to just over 900. So non-COVID-19 care is increasing.
There are 409 patients in acute hospital beds, who are clinically ready for discharge but who can not be discharged, for a variety of reasons, HSE figures show.
Private hospitals are at 50% occupancy, the HSE says, so about two-thirds full. They are doing a large amount of day case work.
Reproduction Value of Covid-19
Dr Colm Henry says that the R value with Covid-19 is 2.5-3. For influenza it’s 1.5-2 and with measles it’s 15.
But for influenza and measles there is a vaccine, so that changes things with those diseases. But a vaccine for Covid-19 is not likely in the foreseeable future.
Important information
Symptoms of Covid-19 include:
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Fever
- Breathing difficulties.
Further resources:
- The HSE: Official advice on the coronavirus in Ireland. This is being updated based on the number of confirmed cases and how the virus spreads in Ireland.
- The Department of Foreign Affairs: Official advice on where to avoid travelling to. Also a resource for those who are abroad.
- The World Health Organization (WHO): The UN agency on global public health publishes statements and daily situation reports based on the latest data.
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): The EU agency on the number of cases, deaths and how it’s spreading in Europe.
- The Johns Hopkins University map: A heat map of the confirmed cases across the world.
A helpline for older people who are concerned about the coronavirus has been launched by Alone. The number is 0818 222 024, and it’s open Monday to Friday, 8am-8pm.
