There have been six more Coronavirus-related deaths and 582 new cases confirmed by the health authorities this evening.
10 of the new cases are in Laois, following on from 23 yesterday, meaning the county’s 14-day incident rate rises to 149.9 compared to the national average of 100.8
There are now 127 active cases in the county, compared to 120 yesterday.
Of the cases notified today;
- 310 are men / 265 are women
- 60% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 38 years old
- 193 in Dublin, 59 in Wexford, 47 in Louth, 42 in Meath, 34 in Cork and the remaining 207 cases are spread all other remaining counties.
As of 2pm today 198 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 34 are in ICU. 13 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “Over the past week, we have expressed significant concern that the level of infection was deteriorating day on day. The data today adds further evidence that the situation is getting worse more rapidly than we expected.
“The country simply cannot cope with this level of infection as we head into Christmas week. With vaccines offering hope in the coming months for our most vulnerable groups, we want to keep them alive and well so that they can receive it.
“Each one of us must do all we can to protect public health – cut your contacts, see only those you need to see. Choose to socialise safely, outdoors if possible. If you see a crowd, avoid it.
By choosing to act safely right now, together we can limit the impact this disease will have in the weeks and months to come – and in doing so, we can protect the vulnerable and prevent unnecessary deaths.”
New Cases in Laois
- December 17 – 10
- December 16 – 23
- December 15 – 13
- December 14 – 5
- 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
14-day case rate in Laois per 100,000 population
- December 17 – 149.9
- December 16 – 141.7
- December 15 – 113.3
- December 14 – 100.4
- 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
New cases in Laois during past 14 days
- December 17 – 127
- December 16 – 120
- December 15 – 96
- December 14 – 85
- 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 28 likely date for new restrictions
Christmas and New Year festivities will be curtailed as pubs, restaurants and home visits face an earlier clampdown due to alarm over rising levels of Covid-19.
The National Public Health Emergency Team has urged the Government to reimpose restrictions on household visits and the hospitality sector from December 28.
In a letter to Government, Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan’s team said home visits should be reduced to just one other household from three days after Christmas Day.
It is not believed that shops will be asked to close.
NPHET also said pubs and restaurants should close from this date. The Government are set to meet on Tuesday where a decision will be made.
SEE ALSO – Laois principal calls for schools to be allowed to close when they have confirmed Covid-19 cases
