Covid-19: No further deaths and 142 new confirmed cases

Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

There have been no further Covid-related deaths, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has said.

The HPSC has been notified of 142 additional cases of Covid-19.

There has now been a total of 28,720 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today, 69% are under the age of 45.

Dublin accounts for 59 of the cases while Kildare has 20, Donegal and Limerick have both reported 14, Wexford accounts for eight and Tipperary for six of the cases.

The remaining 21 newly reported cases are located in Carlow, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Laois, Louth, Mayo, Meath and Wicklow.

Of the 142 cases today, 32 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case while 32 have been identified as community transmission.

Today marks six months since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Ireland.

Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, said that it has been a very difficult time for many with few people left untouched in some way by the effects of the pandemic.

“However, it has also been a time of incredible solidarity, a time when a sense of community has come to the fore," said Dr Glynn.

"We have seen innovation, cooperation, volunteerism and charity, and kindness on an enormous scale. Our frontline workers have stepped up again and again.

"But underpinning it all has been each person playing their part by making the right choices, many times, each day.

"Together, we have broken the chains of transmission and flattened the curve.

"As cases rise again, it is these same behaviours that will once again make the difference, protecting ourselves, our families and our communities."

In the North today, another 89 people tested positive for Covid-19.

It brings the seven-day total in the region to 520.

No new deaths were reported, leaving the total at 560.

The total number of people diagnosed with the virus in the North now stands at 7,138.

Ireland could face spikes in Covid-19 infections every couple of months, according to a public health expert.

The country now has a higher incidence rate over two weeks than Sweden, according to latest figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

The Zero Covid group has created a model which predicts peaks of the disease every two to four months until a vaccine is found.

Professor Anthony Staines says when the current case numbers fall, there needs to be a serious conversation.

"The government's policy at the moment is to suppress the virus down to low levels and while we agree with that what we are saying is that when we are suppressing it down to low levels, we have the conversation about whether we want to bring it down to zero," said Prof. Staines.

"Clearly, to bring it down to zero, you have to bring it down to low levels first."

Prof. Staines said it is very difficult to keep this virus circulating at a low level.

"The natural behaviour of these things is they bounce back.

"When we succeeded in getting this virus down - and I am quite confident about what NPHET are proposing - we need to have a conversation.

"Are we going to keep going until we get it down to zero or do we say, 'it is down to a low level, sit back and relax and wait for it to go up again' and then take some more action."