A further 772 Coronavirus cases have been announced and a further six additional deaths – all of which passed away this month.
Of today’s cases, 11 of them are in Laois, meaning the county’s 14-day incident rate per 100,000 people is now 233.8 from 230.2 which it was yesterday. The national average is 287.
For further context, the Laois rate was 69.66 on August 7 when the county was placed in a localised lockdown along with Kildare and Offaly.
Of today’s cases:
- 362 are men / 406 are women
- 64% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 36 years old
- 228 in Dublin, 120 in Cork, 50 in Meath, 41 in Donegal, 41 in Galway and the remaining 292 cases are spread across all remaining counties.
There are 325 patients in hospital with 15 new admissions in the last 24 hours. While there are 42 people in ICU.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said; “The overall situation has improved, but we have to remember that these are very early days. This improvement will only be maintained if we keep going in our efforts.
“We have to remember that incidence is increasing in older age groups, who are particularly vulnerable to this disease. The way in which we can protect them is if we continue to drive down transmission across the whole population.”
Dr. Desmond Hickey, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said; “As of today, Ireland has seen a reduction in its 7-day incidence rate of 36% when compared to the previous 7 days.
“Ireland’s progress is notable when compared to the rapidly deteriorating picture across Europe. It is paramount that we sustain and continue to drive down disease incidence as much as possible in the coming weeks.”
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said “The reproduction number is now close to 1.0 nationally. This is the first time in a number of weeks that we have been able to report positive indicators of the disease.
“However, our experience to date shows this type of progress is very fragile. We should take these positive signs as an indication our efforts are starting to work, the critical thing now is to keep it up, the virus will seek out any opportunity to spread; over the next weeks let’s make sure we don’t give it that opportunity, by driving R and case numbers as low as possible.”
Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE, said; “There has been a significant reduction in emergency presentations and admission in recent weeks, when compared with activity last year.
“Our Emergency Departments have in place pathways of care to keep patients and staff safe. If you need urgent or emergency care in our hospitals, this care can be provided safely.”
New Cases in Laois
- October 29 – 11
- October 28 – 11
- October 27 – 6
- October 26 – 11
- October 25 – 14
- October 24 – 19
- October 23 – 7
- October 22 – 13
- October 21 – 15
- October 20 – 19
- October 19 – 14
- October 18 – 23
- October 17 – 23
- October 16 – 13
14-day case rate in Laois per 100,000 population
- October 29 – 233.8
- October 28 – 230.2
- October 27 – 256.21
- October 26 – 252.67
- October 25 – 244.4
- October 24 – 234.96
- October 23 – 221.97
- October 22 – 219.2
- October 21 – 222
- October 20 – 212.5
- October 19 – 199.5
- October 18 – 186.5
- October 17 – 173.6
- October 16 – 151.13
New cases in Laois during past 14 days
- October 29 – 198
- October 28 – 195
- October 27 – 217
- October 26 – 214
- October 25 – 207
- October 24 – 199
- October 23 – 188
- October 22 – 186
- October 21 – 188
- October 20 – 180
- October 19 – 169
- October 18 – 158
- October 17 – 147
- October 16 – 128
Hopes we can leave Level 5 in December
The Minister for Finance says that moving to a lower level of restrictions in December would “depend on our continued efforts in dealing” with Covid-19.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Paschal Donohoe said there “are many signals due to the huge effort of the Irish people, we are making progress in dealing with the disease and avoiding some of the things we were very concerned about a few weeks ago.”
Mr Donohoe said it will take time to see if the country can move to a lower level of restrictions.
He added it is important that Level 5 continues to be implemented to “strengthen our ability” to move to a lower level.
