Tony Holohan: Rise in Covid-19 cases goes against positive trends of previous weeks

Dr Tony Holohan: "I am increasingly concerned that the positive trends we had seen recently have not been maintained." Picture: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

The latest rise in new Covid-19 cases goes against the previous weeks of “positive trends”, according to Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan.

Yesterday, it emerged there have been 11 more deaths and 366 new cases of the virus here.

Dr Holohan warned that the incidence rates need to be reduced.

This was so, he said, we can “get to where we need to be on the 1st of December”.

“I am increasingly concerned that the positive trends we had seen recently have not been maintained,” said Dr Holohan.

“The five-day moving average of daily cases has increased from an average of 350 cases on the 11th of November to 424.

“We have two weeks to continue in our efforts to drive down community transmission of this disease as much as possible.

“The lower the incidence the more flexibility the country will have in easing measures.”

Of the new cases, 84 are in Dublin, 44 in Limerick, 34 in Cork, 34 in Donegal, 24 in Roscommon, and the remaining 146 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

As of 2pm yesterday, 272 Covid-19 patients were in hospital, of which 34 were in intensive care units, and there were a total of 14 additional hospitalisations.

The latest figures are a stark contrast to those on Monday, November 9, when there was one death and 270 new cases.

This compared with a high of 542 new cases the day before, and the 16 deaths reported on Tuesday, November 10.

Figures for the past week show how quickly things can change.

For example, on November 6, eight new deaths were recorded. Four days later, one was recorded.

But the next day, 16 deaths were recorded, of which 14 were new deaths confirmed for the month of November.

The latest figures also show the extent to which the virus has spread around the country. On Friday, November 6, new cases were detected in 24 counties. Seven days later, this had increased to 26 counties. Yesterday, it had dropped to 25.

Cork has one of the lowest 14-day incidence rates per 100,000 population for the period November 3 to November 16. It is 85.7.

This compares, according to figures released last night, to an incidence rate of 282 in Donegal, 241 in Limerick, and 167 in Roscommon.

It is also higher in Kerry, Louth, Dublin, and Clare.

Also of the latest statistics, 169 are men and 197 are women.

Of these, 61% are under 45 years of age while the median age is 38 years old.

Just how these latest figures impact on the move to allow pubs and restaurants to open before Christmas remains to be seen.