Daily Covid cases will hit 4,000 either today or tomorrow – Varadkar
Mr Varadkar said that while he did not envisage restrictions being reintroduced, he could not rule it out. File picture: Larry Cummins.
The Government is not planning the reintroduction of Covid restrictions, but daily cases will hit 4,000 either today or tomorrow, the Tánaiste says.
Leo Varadkar said that while there is concern over the ongoing rise in cases, that figure "does not mean what it meant last year".
Mr Varadkar said that while he did not envisage restrictions being reintroduced, he could not rule it out.
"I can't rule it out and it will be reckless to do so. But I can say that it's not our intention, and we don't expect to have to reimpose restrictions before Christmas," he told RTÉ's .
"The situation is fragile, but it is stable. We will see cases hit around 4,000 today or tomorrow. They are heading that way and there's a backlog of unreported cases, so we do expect to hit around 4,000 In the next couple of days.
"But three or 4,000 cases a day doesn't mean what it meant last year, last winter. The number in hospital last night was 46, ICU 90. It's been pretty stable for the past two weeks, which is reassuring.
"It's telling us that the vaccine model is working, that infections in cases aren't turning into hospitalisations to the extent they might and thankfully aren't turning into high levels of deaths, although the deaths are happening and every death is a tragedy."
Mr Varadkar said that the Government would continue to roll out booster vaccines and said that he hoped the European Medicines Agency would approve the Merck therapeutic pill for the virus.
"I believe that will need to be more extensive. It'll need to cover people under 60 who have chronic conditions, maybe even everyone under 60. But let's go ahead and do the over 60s at the moment, which is what we're doing at the moment.
"It's really important that people who have symptoms stay at home, get the test. It's the simple things which are the masks, the work from home, ventilation. And there's good news as well. The UK has just approved a therapeutic, a tablet that you can take if you're diagnosed with Covid and that other reduces your chance of being hospitalized in half.
"And we're encouraging the EMA to authorise that soon. So, you know, it's not a single strategy. We've three elements and potentially a fourth element with therapeutics being developed.
"I've always said we have to get we'd have to get through another winter for you to say this pandemic is behind us. But I think we can get through it without having to impose restrictions. But that does depend on everyone doing the right thing and including government."
Meanwhile, the HSE’s director general echoed Mr Varadkar's comments, saying that the health service is not calling for the reintroduction of restrictions, but that there was a need for everyone to look at their own behaviour.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s , Paul Reid said that he was concerned about rising numbers, hospitals were coping, but that meant there was a trade-off which meant the cancellation of elective care.
For every 1,000 cases, this meant 35 hospitalisations. At present, there are 463 Covid cases in hospital and 90 in ICU.
Mr Reid explained that of the patients in intensive care, 50% were on invasive ventilation. There were a further 250 to 300 patients on “enhanced supports” and others in High Dependency Units or wards with supervised support.
“There are some extremely sick people in hospital,” he said.
The 463 Covid patients in hospital were having a disproportionate impact on the health system, Mr Reid added. The 90 ICU beds currently being occupied by Covid patients could have been used for surgeries.
When asked about the comments by Mr Varadkar on the Merck tablet and his call on the European Medicines Agency for its approval, Mr Reid said that the HSE’s chief clinical officer and the chief medical officer would lead on the issue, but that it was a clinical issue.
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