Positive trends show Cork is driving down Covid-19 cases

People walking along Patrick Street in Cork city in September - some with face masks and some without.

Cork has been making progress in bringing down the number of Covid-19 cases in the region in recent weeks.

Director of Public Health for the HSE South area, Dr Anne Sheahan has commended the people of Cork for their hard work and said that the work is beginning to pay off.

During the summer months, the number of cases of the virus was very low but in late September and early October there were worrying increases.

"I have updated you previously when case numbers in our region were going up, and now I am glad to let you know that we are seeing some positive signs," said Dr Sheahan.

"In the last week of October, we saw more than 150 new cases confirmed in Cork almost every day. But in the last week, that daily figures of confirmed cases has been well under 100 each day.

"The graph below shows that the trend is continuing this week, and this is very encouraging."

Dr Sheahan said the trends in the past week or so are encouraging but numbers still need to drop further.

She acknowledged that the current restrictions are quite hard for people and the people of Cork have had to make difficult choices but that the impact of this can be seen in the recent numbers.

"It’s important that we stick with the actions which protect us all. We need to bring the number of cases in Cork back down to almost zero.

"We haven’t reached that point yet, but if we keep up the measures then I am confident that we will."

People should continue to practice social distance, self-isolate and restrict movements when necessary, be aware of the symptoms of Covid-19 and contact their GP if they think they may have Covid-19.