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5 things we learned from the Covid-19 briefings

Updated / Thursday, 11 Mar 2021 21:32
Paul Reid has said there are 'very strong positives' that can be drawn on the vaccine roll-out to date.
Paul Reid has said there are 'very strong positives' that can be drawn on the vaccine roll-out to date.

There was a cautious note sounded at the latest briefing by the National Public Health Emergency Team amid some concern about a recent levelling off of Covid-19 case numbers.

Earlier a briefing by the Health Service Executive heard some more positive news about the resumption of non-Covid services in hospitals.

Here are five things we have learned from both briefings.

Concern about rate of decline

Professor Philip Nolan, the chair of NPHET's Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said that while there is "steady progress" in all indicators for the disease there are some causes for concern and NPHET will be keeping an eye on these.

He said the number of cases being reported each day has stabilised at around 500 cases a day in recent days and NPHET will be monitoring this.

The decline is slower than in previous weeks and this is because of the new variant which is now dominant.

In light of this, Prof Nolan said that the reproduction number for the virus was hard to estimate, and could be anywhere between 0.6 - which would mean continued suppression of the coronavirus - and 1, which would mean it is no longer being suppressed.

Prof Nolan said it will not be known which of these is the case for seven to ten days.

Appeal for people not to return to work

With some primary school students returning to in-class education last week, and the remainder due to return next week, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer appealed to parents, and the general public, not to see this as a sign to return to the office.

Dr Ronan Glynn said that with the level of disease incidence that we have at the moment "we cannot afford to deteriorate".

In an appeal aimed at employers, he said that those who may be telling workers to come into the workplace unnecessarily are putting all of the progress which we have made at risk.

Increased visitation at nursing homes

This evening Minister for Older People Mary Butler said that residents of long-term residential care facilities, including nursing homes, can receive two visits per week from 22 March on compassionate grounds where a facility has a high level of vaccinations.

Speaking shortly afterwards at the NPHET briefing, Professor Martin Cormican said these visits do not have to be limited to one hour.

He also said there is no limit on the number or duration of visits for someone who is "in a crisis or approaching the end of life", subject to what the care facility can manage.

Prof Cormican said he hopes by next month they will be taking about further normalisation around visitation.

Non-Covid hospital services resuming

Earlier, HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid said that the number of people with Covid-19 receiving treatment in hospitals has fallen 27% in the last week.

The number of people with the virus being treated in intensive care units has fallen by 15% in the same period.

He said this progress means that hospitals can move towards the restoration of non-Covid services "on a phased basis".

Mr Reid said hospitals will receive correspondence on this in the coming days.

Hospital-acquired infections down 95%

Mr Reid has said there are "very strong positives" that can be drawn on the vaccine roll-out to date. 

Mr Reid said reduced transmission levels, reduced hospitalisations, reduced mortality and serial testing in our nursing homes, which he said "is now down to one of the lowest levels we've seen this year at 0.2%." 

He said hospital acquired infections are down by almost 95% and cases in healthcare workers are now less than 4%, down from 16% of all healthcare staff. 

"Healthcare workers are going to work with a security they haven't had in this pandemic to date," he said. 

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