There has been two more Coronavirus-related death and 264 new cases confirmed by the health authorities this evening.
Eight of the new cases are in Laois, following on from 22 yesterday, meaning the county’s 14-day incident rate rises to 99.2 compared to the national average of 84.3.
There are now 84 active cases in the county, compared to 80 yesterday. A week ago that figure stood at 47, the same as it was two weeks ago.
The 14-day incidence rate in Laois was 56.7 a week ago.
Of the cases notified today;
- 128 are men / 134 are women
- 65% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 36 years old
- 79 in Dublin, 24 in Donegal, 19 in Kerry, 18 in Limerick, 14 in Kildare, 14 in Wexford and the remaining 96 cases are spread across 16 other counties.
As of 2pm today 215 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 33 are in ICU. 17 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
New Cases in Laois
- December 13 – 8
- December 12 – 22
- December 11 – 9
- 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
14-day case rate in Laois per 100,000 population
- December 13 – 99.2
- December 12 – 94.5
- December 11 – 73.2
- 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
New cases in Laois during past 14 days
- December 13 – 84
- December 12 – 80
- December 11 – 62
- 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
New virus strain detected
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has told the House of Commons a new variant of coronavirus has been identified in England.
In a statement, Mr Hancock said: “Over the last few days, thanks to our world-class genomic capability in the UK, we have identified a new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the faster spread in the South of England.”
Matt Hancock said the numbers of the new variant of coronavirus “are increasing rapidly”.
He told the Commons: “Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants.
“We’ve currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant predominantly in the South of England although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas.
“I must stress at this point that there is currently nothing to suggest that this variant is more likely to cause serious disease and the latest clinical advice is that it’s highly unlikely that this mutation would fail to respond to a vaccine, but it shows we’ve got to be vigilant and follow the rules and everyone needs to take personal responsibility not to spread this virus.
“I need to tell the House that over the last week, we’ve seen very sharp, exponential rises in the virus across London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.
“We do not know the extent to which this is because of the new variant but no matter its cause we have to take swift and decisive action which unfortunately is absolutely essential to control this deadly disease while the vaccine is rolled out.”
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