There have been a further 20 Coronavirus-related deaths and a massive 8,248 new cases, according to figures released by the health authorities this evening.
Of the new cases announced today, 55 of them are in Laois, meaning the county’s 14-day incidence rate goes to 742.6, up from 689.5 yesterday.
There are now 629 confirmed active cases in the county compared to 584 yesterday.
Of the cases notified today:
- 3,834 are men / 4,375 are women
- 61% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 38 years old
- 3,013 in Dublin, 1,374 in Cork, 538 in Limerick, 314 in Kildare, 310 in Donegal and the remaining 2,699 cases are spread across all other counties.
As of 2pm today, 1,180 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 109 are in ICU. 116 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “Three cases of a new variant of COVID-19 recently identified in South Africa have been confirmed in Ireland today by whole genome sequencing. All of the cases identified are directly associated with recent travel from South Africa.
“Anyone who has travelled from South Africa recently is advised to self-isolate for 14 days and identify themselves through a GP for testing as soon as possible.
“We are particularly advising healthcare workers travelling from South Africa, that it is essential that they self-isolate for 14 days before entering/re-entering the workplace.
“While this variant has not yet been identified in many European countries we believe the identification here reflects the extent of genome sequencing surveillance in Ireland.”
Dr Cillian De Gascun, Medical Virologist and Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said; “The ECDC Assessment states that preliminary analyses indicate that the South African variant is associated with a heightened viral load and may have increased transmissibility. It also states that there is no evidence to date that this variant is associated with higher severity of infection.
“There is currently not enough information available to determine whether this variant poses a possible risk related to vaccine match and effectiveness. The antigenic characterisation of this new variant is ongoing, and results are expected in the coming weeks.”
New Cases in Laois
- January 7 – 55
- January 6 – 82
- January 5 – 107
- January 4 – 12
- January 3 – 80
- January 2 – 40
- January 1 – 104
- December 31 – 12
- December 30 – 50
- December 29 – 23
- December 28 – 38
- December 27 – 5
- December 26 – 2
- December 24 and 25 – 45
- December 23 – 12
14-day case rate in Laois per 100,000 population
- January 7 – 742.6
- January 6 – 689.5
- January 5 – 606.9
- January 4 – 493.5
- January 3 – 494.7
- January 2 – 406.2
- January 1 – 381.4
- December 31 – 271.6
- December 30 – 269.2
- December 29 – 237.3
- December 28 – 225.6
- December 27 – 186.5
- December 26 – 190.6
- December 24 and 25 – Unknown
- December 23 – 207.8
New cases in Laois during past 14 days
- January 7 – 629
- January 6 – 584
- January 5 – 514
- January 4 – 418
- January 3 – 419
- January 2 – 344
- January 1 – 323
- December 31 – 230
- December 30 – 228
- December 29 – 201
- December 28 – 191
- December 27 – 158
- December 26 – 161
- December 24 and 25 – Unknown
- December 23 – 176
All nursing home residents to be vaccinated
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly says everyone in nursing homes will receive dose one within the next 16 days.
26,000 doses will be taken out of the ‘buffer’ from initial deliveries which have already arrived here and they will be used.
Meanwhile, there has been a “100% uptake” of the Covid-19 vaccine in residential care settings so far, the Chief Operations Officer with the HSE has said.
Anne O’Connor said the Health Service Executive is “confined by” the number of doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine available.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, she said that inoculating upwards of 50,000 people a week “would be a stretch” for the health service, adding that the “challenge is around certainty of supply”.
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