Public urged to limit social contacts as 520 Covid-19 cases confirmed

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

A further 520 Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Ireland as Nphet stated that the B117 variant of the virus accounts for more than 90% of cases in Ireland. 

One death related to the disease has also been reported.

Some 242 of the cases reported today are in Dublin, with 36 in Meath, 30 in Offaly, 29 in Kildare and 25 in Wicklow.

The remaining 158 cases are spread out across 20 other counties. 

Of today's cases:

• 258 are men
• 262 are women 
• 79% are under 45 years of age 
• The median age is 28 years old

As of 8am today, 359 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 81 are in ICU.

As of March 19, 668,529 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Ireland Some 487,466 people have received their first jab while 181,063 people have received their second.

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group said that between March 7 and 13, "60% of disease incidence is taking place through close contact transmission and 24% in the community". 

He added: "59% of transmissions are occurring in households. Outside of the household, almost half of transmissions are occurring in social gatherings and the workplace.”

Dr Cillian de Gascun, Medical Virologist and Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, has repeated a call for people to follow public health advice, as the dominant strain of the virus in Ireland is extremely transmissible. 

He said: “The B117 variant, Ireland’s most dominant variant of Covid-19 accounts for more than 90% of our cases and is extremely transmissible. 

Public health advice aims to limit the opportunities this virus has to spread, and it should be noted that B117 does not need much opportunity to do so. 

"The most effective way to stop the spread of this variant and all variants of Covid-19 is to limit your social contacts and follow public health advice.”

The 14-day incidence rate in the country now stands at 157.1.

Offaly, where a Covid outbreak at a creche sparked calls for swifter vaccination for those working in childcare facilities, has the highest incidence rate in the country - 424.6.

Longford (269.1) and Kildare (256.2) have the second and third highest incidence rate.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, welcomed the new visitation guidance for nursing homes, saying it is a benefit of the vaccine.

Following advice issued earlier this month, nursing home residents are allowed to have two visitors a week on “general compassionate grounds” from today. 

Dr Glynn said it is "a reminder of what we are collectively working towards, a vaccination rollout that, along with our other protective measures, will end this pandemic".

He added: “People have worked exceptionally hard over the past three months to reduce transmission in our communities. We have shown time and again that we can act collectively to protect one another. Please keep this going over the coming weeks.”

Earlier, HSE clinicians warned that Ireland may be heading for another Covid-19 surge following yesterday's high case numbers.

HSE clinical lead on infection control Professor Martin Cormican said the country needed to be "careful" as case numbers have not fallen as had been anticipated.

He said people coming together for occasions like wakes and birthday parties pose a “huge risk” to everybody.