There have been one further Coronavirus-related death and 270 new cases, according to figures released today.
Of today’s new cases, four of them are in Laois.
It means the county’s 14-day incidence rate has dropped to 155.8 from yesterday’s figure of 167.7.
A week ago that figure stood at 222.5 in Laois down from its peak of 256.21 on October 27.
There are now 132 active cases in Laois, down from 142 yesterday.
Of the cases notified today;
- 143 are men / 127 are women
- 69% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 34 years old
- 103 in Dublin, 34 in Limerick, 20 in Donegal, 12 in Cork, 9 in Kerry, 9 in Kilkenny and the remaining 83 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
As of 2pm today 291 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 39 are in ICU. 12 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
New Cases in Laois
- November 8 – 4
- November 7 – 18
- November 6 – 8
- November 5 – 13
- November 4 – 7
- November 3 – 4
- November 2 – 8
- November 1 – 18
- October 31 – 7
- October 30 – 5
- October 29 – 11
- October 28 – 11
- October 27 – 6
- October 26 – 11
- October 25 – 14
14-day case rate in Laois per 100,000 population
- November 8 – 155.8
- November 7 – 167.7
- November 6 – 168.8
- November 5 – 167.7
- November 4 – 167.7
- November 3 – 177.1
- November 2 – 194.8
- November 1 – 201.9
- October 31 – 205.4
- October 30 – 222.5
- October 29 – 233.8
- October 28 – 230.2
- October 27 – 256.21
- October 26 – 252.67
New cases in Laois during past 14 days
- November 8 – 132
- November 7 – 142
- November 6 – 143
- November 5 – 142
- November 4 – 142
- November 3 – 150
- November 2 – 165
- November 1 – 171
- October 31 – 174
- October 30 – 191
- October 29 – 198
- October 28 – 195
- October 27 – 217
- October 26 – 214
Vaccine
The European Union is about to sign a contract for millions of doses of the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The two companies said their experimental vaccine was more than 90% effective, in what could be a major victory in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The European Commission, which is negotiating with vaccine makers on behalf of EU states, said in September it had concluded exploratory talks with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech over the supply up to 300 million doses of their potential Covid-19 shot.
Sir John Bell, professor of medicine at Oxford University, predicts that life could return to normal by Spring 2021 because of this vaccine.
He told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: “I am really delighted with this result – it shows that you can make a vaccine against this little critter.
“Ninety percent is an amazing level of efficacy.
“It rolls the pitch for other vaccines because I can’t see any reason now why we shouldn’t have a handful of good vaccines.”
When asked, ‘Will life return to normal by spring?’, Prof Bell added: “Yes, yes, yes. I am probably the first guy to say that but I will say that with some confidence.”
