NPHET urges public to keep social contacts ‘low’ after 98 cases and no deaths confirmed

Acting chief medical offficer Dr Ronan Glynn. 'Keep physical distance top of mind at all times. Have no more than six visitors to your home and keep 2m between you.' Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has urged the public to keep their number of social contacts “low” this weekend, after 98 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed on Friday.

The new cases bring to 29,303 the total number of Covid-19 cases confirmed to date.

No further deaths due to Covid-19 were confirmed by NPHET on Friday. The total number of fatalities to date stands at 1,777.

Of the newly confirmed cases, 66% were detected in people under 45 years of age and 42% were associated with outbreaks or were close contacts of a confirmed case. 10% of cases (9) were found to have spread through community transmission.

County Dublin saw the highest number of new cases at 24, followed by Kildare (13), Kerry (8), Kilkenny, Limerick, and Louth (6) and Tipperary (5), with the remaining 30 cases distributed across 10 counties.

“As we head into another weekend, keep physical distance top of mind at all times. Have no more than six visitors to your home and keep 2m between you. Open windows and keep rooms well ventilated if possible,” Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, Dr Ronan Glynn, said.

“It’s important that we all keep our number of social contacts low while we focus on keeping our schools safe, continuing to resume healthcare services and ultimately protecting the most vulnerable from Covid-19,” he added.

Separately a number of doctors have called for an end to the publication of daily Covid-19 figures due to the levels of anxiety and stress they induce among members of the public.

Dublin-based GP Dr Maitiu O’Tuathail recommended moving from daily briefings to a comprehensive weekly briefing.

“As a society, we need to get off the emotional rollercoaster that is the daily release of Covid figures. When they’re high, they cause mass hysteria. When they’re low, they cause false reassurance. It’s leading to huge anxiety and is of little benefit,” he tweeted.

His comments echoed those of Newstalk radio presenter, Dr Ciara Kelly.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly attended a virtual meeting with EU health ministers on the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines.

Mr Donnelly said: “Ireland fully supports the goal of obtaining a broad portfolio of candidate vaccines that includes a range of different technological approaches, which gives us the best chance of securing a safe and effective vaccine against Covid-19”.