There have been three more deaths from Coronavirus as well as 591 new cases, according to figures released today.
Two of these deaths were in October and one of them was in November.
Of today’s cases, seven of them are in Laois, meaning the county’s 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 people drops to 167.7 from 177.1 yesterday.
It is the sixth day in a row that the Laois figure has declined. It had peaked at 256.21 on October 27 following a steady rise over the previous month.
Of the cases notified today;
- 280 are men / 310 are women
- 59% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 38 years old
- 120 in Dublin, 75 in Donegal, 50 in Cork, 46 in Kerry, 44 in Limerick and the remaining 256 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
As of 2pm today 302 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 38 are in ICU. 20 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “A second surge is taking place across Europe. Ireland and Finland are the only European countries in the EU where reductions in 14 – day incidence have been observed. All other countries are increasing.
“Level 5 efforts over the last two weeks have succeeded in further reducing community transmission and disease incidence in Ireland, however, now is not the time to be complacent. We must keep driving down this disease- we must keep going.
“The 19 to 24 year old age group has achieved a dramatic reduction in incidence, from 450 per 100,000 to 150 per 100,000 in two weeks. They have also halved their contacts in the past 5 weeks. We all need to recognise the efforts of our young people and I thank them.”
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said “We estimate the reproduction number at 0.7 – 0.9. This is a testament to our collective effort to stop the spread of the virus and it is very good news. We may be doing better now but it is conditional on whether we keep it up. If we continue to use this time to drive the infection right down, we will be in a good position in four weeks time.”
Dr. Vida Hamilton, National Clinical Advisor and Group Lead, Acute Hospitals, HSE: “While the age demographic of cases vary from the first surge back in March to this one, ICU admissions have affected people from all age groups, with the average length of stay at 17.8 days. People of all ages are potentially vulnerable to the more extreme symptoms of this disease.”
New Cases in Laois
- 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
- October 24 – 19
- October 23 – 7
- October 22 – 13
14-day case rate in Laois per 100,000 population
- 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
- October 25 – 244.4
- October 24 – 234.96
- October 23 – 221.97
- October 22 – 219.2
New cases in Laois during past 14 days
- 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
- October 25 – 207
- October 24 – 199
- October 23 – 188
- October 22 – 186
Government plan to reopen country in December
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly says the government’s plan is to ‘open back up in the first week in December’.
Minister Donnelly was speaking on RTÉ’s News at One two weeks to the day since the country was placed on Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions.
The minister said the Government’s plan is to “open back up in the first week of December”, adding that various methods of doing so will be considered closer to this time.
“It could be Level 3. There is a possibility that it might be Level 2, or maybe a regional approach would be taken.”
He said it is “very much our intention that retail is open for what is their most important time of the year”.
