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Covid-19: No further deaths, four additional cases

Updated / Monday, 6 Jul 2020 20:04
The total death toll from Covid-19 remains at 1,741
The total death toll from Covid-19 remains at 1,741

There have been no further deaths and four additional cases from Covid-19 reported in the past 24 hours, the Department of Health has confirmed.

The total death toll remains at 1,741 while the total number of cases now stands at 25,531.

This is the second day in a row that there have been no coronavirus-related deaths reported here. 

The 14 day incidence rate among the population is currently 2.96 per 100,000.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said he was "very concerned" at reports of crowds of people drinking together over the weekend. "We are asking people not to go into environments where they put themselves or others at risk.

"That being said, I know the vast majority of pubs and businesses are really trying hard to do their bit to keep it under control."

Read: Latest coronavirus stories 

But he warned: "If gatherings like that continue, then it is inevitable that we will run into problems. The virus is still out there, we are not immune - very few of us have had this."

Asked about the possibility of the planned reopening of pubs on 20 July being delayed, Dr Glynn said they were quite a few days out from any announcements about Phase 4 of the roadmap.

"We examine the data on the disease daily and make decisions based on that.

"In short, yes, we are keeping everything under review. We will just have to see how things go over the coming week or two."

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Dr Glynn added: "We are asking people to [follow public health advice] for healthcare workers who are exhausted, and for their nieces and nephews who need to go back to school, and for the sick and the vulnerable who are most at risk if we get a second wave."

He said Ireland was in "an almost uniquely good position in Europe at present" but we are at a crossroads and have choices to make.

The Acting Chief Medical Officer urged: "If we make the right choices, we hope to get this disease under control. But if people do not follow the basics of public health advice, we will end up back where we were a few months ago.

"We don't want those scenes from the weekend repeated."

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, at today's health briefing (Pic: Rollingnews.ie)

Dr Glynn said "at present things are very good". For the last number of weeks, new admissions to hospitals have been in the single figures.

At present there are 19 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Irish hospitals with 10 patients in ICU.

Asked about patients in some private hospitals facing fees of up to €250 for coronavirus testing, he said "nobody should be precluded from treatment because they cannot afford a Covid test".

The Chief Clinical Officer of the HSE, Dr Colm Henry, said the interim advice for people coming in for surgery is to isolate or cocoon for 14 days prior to surgery and have a Covid test 48 to 72 hours before going into hospital to minimise the risk of introducing Covid into a healthcare environment.

Over the past 14 days, the total number of confirmed cases notified to the Department of Health is 141. Of which 45% are male and 55% are female.

The median age of people testing positive for the virus is 37 years old and 66% are under 45 years of age.

Over the past two weeks, 20 counties reported new cases of the virus and 15% of these were travel related. Dr Glynn said the advice on travel remains clear - people should avoid non-essential overseas travel.

Dr Glynn also urged anyone who has been identified as a close contact of a Covid-19 case to "take up the offer of a test without delay".

He said between mid-May to the end of June, "35% of those identified as a close contact of a confirmed case did not take up the offer of a test".

He warned: "Every case has the potential to turn into a cluster, which in turn has the potential to spread through a community."

The median age of those who have died from coronavirus in Ireland so far is 83. There have now been 458 clusters across residential care facilities, accounting for 7,371 cases.

In Northern Ireland, no further coronavirus deaths have been recorded since Friday, where the official Department of Health toll remains at 554.

Nine new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded there, bringing the cumulative total to 5,756.

There are no coronavirus patients in ICU in Northern Ireland for the tenth consecutive day.

Earlier today, Health Service Executive's Chief Clinical Officer Colm Henry said he supports mandatory quarantine for arrivals into Ireland and urged Irish people not to go abroad.

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Meanwhile, Professor Kingston Mills, from Trinity College's School of Biochemistry and Immunology, warned that planes are the ideal environment for transmitting the virus.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said Ireland has done really well in reducing Covid-19 cases and that as an island, we have a real chance to keep it out and eliminate it.

He said non-mandatory self-isolation is not working and flights are arriving into Ireland from countries with high levels of Covid-19, such as the US and the UK.

He said this is "asking for trouble" and that most of the original cases in Ireland were as a result of international travel.

The World Health Organization has reported that data to date suggests 80% of Covid-19 infections are mild or asymptomatic, 15% are severe infection, requiring oxygen and 5% are critical, requiring ventilation. 

Generally, you need to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person and within two metres of them, to be considered at-risk, or a close contact.

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