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5 things we learned at today's Covid-19 briefing

Updated / Thursday, 4 Mar 2021 21:41
Prof Philip Nolan at this evening's briefing
Prof Philip Nolan at this evening's briefing

While the figures are improving across all ages, particularly in older people, there was news of preliminary reports on stillbirths linked to Covid-19.

Here are five things we learned during this evening's Department of Health briefing on Covid-19.

Incidence falling across all ages

Incidence is falling among all age categories, the Department of Health briefing heard this evening.

Children of second-level age follow almost precisely the population average when it comes to the incidence of Covid-19, said Prof Philip Nolan, meaning that the incidence is much the same in teenagers as it is in adults.

However, those aged under 12 tend to have a lower incidence.

This is a group that "we will obviously be watching very carefully over the coming weeks", said Prof Nolan, as childcare and schools reopen.

In those aged under 12, the pattern of incidence changes across the surge of the disease, he said.

Early in any given surge, the incidence in children tends to be lower than the wider population.

But towards the end of the surge - the point we are now at - the incidence in those aged 12 and under converges with the average incidence of the population.

When there are very high levels of disease, children tend to be tested less (such as in January, when testing of close contacts was suspended), "but there may be other things going on", said Prof Nolan, such as changes in the level of exposure at different points of lockdown.

Stillbirths linked to Covid

Four preliminary reports of stillbirths potentially associated with a condition called Covid Placentitis have emerged in Ireland, said Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn.

He said the reports should be interpreted with caution, as the coroners have not yet concluded their findings.

Two of the deaths have been officially reported as part of this evening's figures.

Dr Glynn said coroners had notified NPHET about the deaths. It is essentially an infection of the placenta, leading to stillbirth, he said.

In view of the emerging reports, the HSE has communicated with obstetrics departments around the country.

442 cases in one outbreak

Dr Breda Smyth, Director of Public Health in the West, gave details of an outbreak in the region among adults aged 18-24.

Up to yesterday, there were 442 cases associated with this outbreak.

Of those, 179 of the cases were linked to multiple household clusters.

In addition, there were 145 cases linked to single household outbreaks, and in addition to that there were a further 118 cases.

In total, there were 224 households affected in this outbreak.

Children wearing masks

Dr Máirín Ryan of the expert advisory group said they are not advising a change at the moment on minimum ages for mask use in the community.

However, parents may still choose to have their children wear a mask, based on their own assessment of the risks and benefits.

Mask wearing is advised from ages 13 and up, but the briefing heard that secondary school students aged 12 are considered developmentally on par with their 13-year-old classmates, so they should still wear a mask at secondary school like everyone else.

Covid incidence in older people falls

There was some good news.

In the last few days, the incidence in people aged 65 and older has dropped to or below the population average, said Prof Philip Nolan.

There has been a significant decrease in the number of deaths per day.

It is another early sign of the impact of vaccination on vulnerable older groups, said Prof Nolan.

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