A further 313 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and three new deaths have been announced by the health authorities this evening – as well as a big jump in Laois cases.
There were 18 new cases announced in Laois meaning the 14-day incidence rate in the county is now 66.1 – up from 49.6 yesterday.
Laois had the fifth highest number of new cases confirmed today – just behind Dublin, Mayo, Kilkenny and Donegal.
Coincidentally, Mayo and Laois, who had been doing well up until today, are the only counties in the country where a school has closed early for Christmas over Covid fears.
While there are now 56 active cases in Laois, up from 42 yesterday.
The national average is now 81.2.
Of the cases notified today;
- 144 are men / 169 are women
- 67% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 35 years old
- 70 in Dublin, 31 in Mayo, 21 in Kilkenny, 19 in Donegal, 18 in Laois and the remaining 154 cases are spread across 19 other counties.
As of 2pm today 197 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 35 are in ICU. 12 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
New Cases in Laois
- December 10 – 18
- December 9 – 2
- December 8 – 3
- December 7 – 2
- December 6 – 2
- December 5 – 0
- December 4 – 9
- December 3 – 2
- December 2 – 0
- December 1 – 1
- November 30 – 5
- November 29 – 2
- November 28 – 2
- November 27 – 4
- November 26 – 4
- November 25 – 6
14-day case rate in Laois per 100,000 population
- December 10 – 66.1
- December 9 – 49.6
- December 8 – 54.3
- December 7 – 56.7
- December 6 – 55.7
- December 5 – 55.5
- December 4 – 56.7
- December 3 – 49.6
- December 2 – 50.8
- December 1 – 55.5
- November 30 – 55.5
- November 29 – 51.9
- November 28 – 50.8
- November 27 – 55.5
New cases in Laois during past 14 days
- December 10 – 56
- December 9 – 42
- December 8 – 46
- December 7 – 48
- December 6 – 47
- December 5 – 47
- December 4 – 47
- December 3 – 42
- December 2 – 43
- December 1 – 47
- November 30 – 47
- November 29 – 44
- November 28 – 43
- November 27 – 47
Bulk of vaccine expected in 2021
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said there will be a “build up” of Covid-19 vaccine availability in January and February next year, followed by higher volumes in March, April and May.
Speaking at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Mr Martin said there had been a commitment by EU leaders to coordinate the roll-out of the vaccine, which would be led by the European Commission.
He said the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine would come first, and the Moderna vaccine was due for conditional market authorisation on 12 January.
The Government is due to receive details today from the High-Level Task Force on Covid-19 Vaccination of how to roll out the Covid-19 vaccines – but details on that are not expected until next week.
