Covid-19 surge 'extremely concerning', says Holohan

Chief Medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan: “We each need to reduce contact with other people as much as possible, so that means staying at home, working from home where possible, practising physical distancing, and stopping discretionary socialising.” Picture: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has described the surge in Covid-19 figures as "extremely concerning" following five more deaths and 1,095 new cases of the virus.

As of 2pm yesterday, 232 people were in hospital with Covid-19, 30 of which were in ICU.

Dublin still has the highest number of cases with 246, followed by Meath with 185, 128 in Cavan, 118 in Cork, and 63 in Kildare. The remaining 342 cases are spread across the remaining counties.

In the last 14 days, Cork has had 1,137 cases — second only to Dublin with 2,498.

Some 70% of new cases are occurring in people under the age of 45, with the median age now at 31.

"This situation is extremely concerning," said Dr Holohan. "Every single one of us has a role to play.

We each need to reduce contact with other people as much as possible, so that means staying at home, working from home where possible, practising physical distancing, and stopping discretionary socialising.  

Private households continue to be the greatest source of new Covid-19 outbreaks, with 352 new clusters identified last week.

The virus, however, is also spreading more widely in the community, workplaces, schools, and childcare facilities where cluster numbers have more than doubled in the past week.

New figures published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) for the week ending October 10 show an increase in outbreaks in most settings, with significant increases in the community, schools, childcare facilities, workplaces, nursing homes, and extended families. 

The number of new community outbreaks increased to 27 last week, up from five the previous week, representing a quarter of all community outbreaks recorded to date (92).

There was also a significant increase in school outbreaks, which doubled to 25 in the past week — up from 12 the previous week — while 15 new outbreaks were confirmed in childcare facilities, representing half of all outbreaks in these facilities to date (29).

The number of new outbreaks in workplaces also increased to 23 last week, with four new outbreaks confirmed in meat and food processing plants and five outbreaks in construction firms.

While the number of outbreaks in private households fell off slightly, from 395 the previous week, there was an increase in outbreaks among extended families (22) last week.

The number of new Covid-19 outbreaks in nursing homes rose to 11 last week, up from seven the previous week, with more than 300 outbreaks confirmed in nursing homes to date, and 40 remaining active.

A fourth resident has died from Kilminchy Lodge Nursing Home in Portlaoise after they tested positive for the virus.

In total, 1,835 people have died with Covid-19 in Ireland, and 45,243 cases of the virus have now been confirmed.

Dr Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, said: “People must now make choices. Stop meeting up in groups, stop socialising, stop organising play dates, parties, and other social activities. 

"People must recognise that the disease is a direct threat to themselves and their families. Now is the time for each of us to act.”