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Covid-19: Two further deaths and 299 cases reported

Updated / Monday, 30 Nov 2020 07:15
Further measures in January cannot be ruled out, according to Stephen Donnelly (Pic: RollingNews.ie)
Further measures in January cannot be ruled out, according to Stephen Donnelly (Pic: RollingNews.ie)

There have been 299 new cases of Covid-19 reported by the Department of Health.

The department has also reported a further two deaths related to the coronavirus.

It brings the number of cases reported here since the outbreak began to 72,241, while the total death toll has risen to 2,052.

There are 257 people with confirmed Covid-19 being treated in hospital, with 30 of these receiving treatment in intensive care units.

The national 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 people has fallen slightly to 92.3 - down from 93.7 yesterday.

Donegal continues to have the highest 14-day incidence rate in the country, at 219.9, followed by Louth (184.7) and Limerick (166.8).

Leitrim has the lowest rate, at 21.8, with the second-lowest rate in Wexford at 26.0.

Of the 299 cases reported today, 94 are in Dublin and 41 are in Donegal. 

There were 27 reported in Wicklow, 14 in Louth and 13 in Limerick. The remaining 110 cases were spread across 20 other counties.

Just over two-thirds of cases reported today involve people under the age of 45, with the median of age of positive cases recorded as 34 years old.

Earlier, there were 351 cases of the virus reported in Northern Ireland, along with three further deaths.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Health has said if there is "a huge increase" in Covid-19 cases when restrictions ease in December, the Government would consider reimposing tighter measures. 

However, Stephen Donnelly said he does not believe there will be changes to the restrictions planned for next month, despite predictions from the National Public Health Emergency Team that the number of infections will rise. 

"There is no intention or suggestion that restrictions would be reimposed, not based on the projections we are seeing," Mr Donnelly told RTÉ's This Week.

In a letter to Government last week, NPHET suggested new restrictions would be needed if there was a sharp rise in cases of the virus. 

"What we expect to see and NPHET expected to see is the number of cases will continue to fall for potentially another two weeks. I then expect to see, and NPHET expected to see, the number go up again."

The minister said this is likely to happen in the second or third week of December. However, he does not expect it to be a quick, exponential rise.

He disputed any strong likelihood of further restrictions in January, saying everything will be kept under review. "You can never rule anything out," he said.

The minister said the Government is listening "very closely" to NPHET's advice and disputed that it had rejected the group's recommendations with regard to allowing the hospitality sector to reopen. 

"NPHET said you choose one and it chose household visits. We chose hospitality. One of the reasons is because it has been on its knees. And there has been very strong feedback that people want to get out in December," he said.

Mr Donnelly said all the data showed that the single biggest impact on curtailing Covid infections was the ban on household visits. "We are maintaining that restriction for now."

He added that the evidence was "unambiguous" relating to wet pubs and that they can lead to "superspreader events".

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Regarding the risks surrounding local celebrations after major GAA matches, he acknowledged there was evidence that some had correlated with "very big spikes" in the virus.

Mr Donnelly said he was confident, however, that the GAA was taking this very seriously ahead of the All-Ireland games.

Earlier, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O'Brien said imposing Level 5 restrictions was a tough decision, but it has proven to be the correct one.

Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, he said Ireland was now making the decision to open up parts of society when our counterparts in Europe are closing down again.

The Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin Fingal said there is a difference between the first and second waves of coronavirus and "thankfully" our mortality rates are down about 90%.

The Government wants people to be able to have a "meaningful Christmas" and for businesses to be able to trade, but people must act "in a responsible way".

"We're going to trust our people to do the right thing, and they will do the right thing, so we can enjoy a different Christmas but a meaningful Christmas."

Mr O'Brien said we are "social beings" and recent mental health data is "very, very stark". There are people suffering from anxiety and stress levels "at a rate that we have not seen".

Social Democrats' co-leader Catherine Murphy said any evidence that the Government had on mental health during the pandemic needed to be shared. She was hearing from people who were feeling "very distressed and very worried".  

Speaking on the same programme, Sinn Féin TD Mairead Farrell said there will be a "sense of relief" at the easing of restrictions coming close to Christmas.

However, there "needs to be common sense" and people will need to reduce their social contacts in the lead-up to Christmas if they are going to see vulnerable relatives over the festive period.

There are 257 people with Covid-19 in Irish hospitals and 30 of these patients are in intensive care. The latest available data from the HSE shows there are currently 47 critical care beds available across the whole system.

Letterkenny General Hospital has the highest number of Covid-19 patients in the country, at 44. 

HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said there are 85% fewer patients waiting for a hospital bed compared to this week in November 2019.

He stated that the health system was entering winter "in a better position" as a result.

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