Covid cases in Dublin expected to double over next 14 days

Yesterday, 211 new cases were confirmed with 121 located in Dublin.

The acting Chief Medical Officer says there is an average of 104 new cases of Covid-19 each day in Dublin.

Dr Ronan Glynn expects the number of cases to double in the capital over the next 14 days.

He says the disease there is growing at approximately 4% per day.

Yesterday, 211 new cases were confirmed with 121 located in Dublin.

Dr Glynn is urging the people of Dublin to take steps to protect themselves from Covid.

"Please commit to meeting less people inside your home. Limit your social contacts as much as possible.

"Avoid crowds. Prioritise the people that you need to see but keep groups small and see them regularly rather than meeting lots of different people from lots of different households."

A direct message to people living or working in Dublin to explain where we are currently and what we can all do to get where we need to be with #COVID-19. Your individual actions really do matter. They all count. They do work. #HoldFirm [For Closed Captions, select "cc".] pic.twitter.com/fbZlexdOVl

— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) September 11, 2020

Dr Glynn said that clusters of cases are being seen in households spread across Dublin city and county.

He added that the vast majority of the cases are being seen in younger people.

"Fortunately, admissions to hospital and critical care units remain low and the proportion of cases which cannot be linked to other cases is similar to that seen in the rest of the country."

A leading virus expert has claimed a national lockdown is needed to control the spread of Covid-19.

UCC professor Gerry Killeen says the whole country should revert to the strict restrictions of May and June.

"If we were to get ambitious about this and want to start trying to shrink our epidemic again and really get it down you are talking about the equivalent of a hybrid of what was our phase one and phase two," said Prof Killeen.

"The alternative is the Government's current strategy which is to do it in a reactive manner where you implement them locally for a limited period.

"But then of course you have got to relax them and then what do you do next?"