Ireland's Covid-19 deaths and cases consistently lower than EU counterparts 

Hiqa said that in general peaks in Ireland were lower and shorter in duration than in other European countries.

Ireland has been consistently below the EU average for Covid-19 cases and deaths, and surges in hospitalisations here were lower and shorter than those experienced by many European countries.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has analysed the course of the pandemic across European countries. Its report identifies several factors that may have influenced how Covid-19 unfolded in Ireland, including our relatively young population and low population density, as well some of the most stringent restrictions and highest vaccination rates in Europe.

At the request of the Department of Health, Hiqa has published an analysis of the pandemic between January 2020 and November 2021, from the first reported cases to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

The report examines trends in five indicators: confirmed cases, hospitalisations, ICU admissions, reported deaths, and excess mortality, as well as contextual factors that may have influenced the course of the pandemic here.

Hiqa found Ireland experienced one of the sharpest peaks in overall cases in Europe in January 2021, likely due to increased socialisation around Christmas 2020 when restrictions lifted, which coincided with increased presence of the Alpha variant.

However, this was the exception, as Hiqa said that in general peaks in Ireland were lower and shorter in duration than in other European countries.

It said the cumulative rate of recorded Covid-19 deaths per million population here remained consistently below the EU-27 average throughout the pandemic.

Of the 5,514 Covid-19 deaths reported in Ireland, the highest numbers of deaths coincided with two peaks of hospitalisation around April 2020 and January 2021. Ireland avoided a third peak in deaths between September and November 2021, which was experienced by many other countries in Europe.

Hiqa suggested the absence of a third peak could be due to Ireland’s stringent restrictions and vaccination policy.

Stringency index

Ireland consistently ranked amongst the highest in Europe on Oxford's “Stringency Index” during April/May 2020, August/September 2020, November 2020, and January to May 2021. The index measures the extremity of public health restrictions such as school and work closures, and restrictions on movements and gatherings.

This country's stringency index reduced in May 2021, and was replaced by high vaccination coverage in those aged over 70. Six months after the vaccine rollout began, by June 2021, approximately 100% of Irish adults aged 70 years or older were fully vaccinated, greatly exceeding the EU-27 averages of 73% of those aged 70-79 years, and 80% of those aged 80 years or older.

Hiqa also suggested that factors such as Ireland’s young population (the second youngest in Europe with only 13.9% of the population aged over 65) and lower population density (less than half the EU-27 average of 166 people per square kilometre) may have reduced the severity and spread of Covid-19 in the community.

Dr Conor Teljeur, Hiqa’s Chief Scientist cautioned that different contextual factors in different European countries “strongly limit the conclusions that can be drawn from comparing the burden of the pandemic across countries".