Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said Tuesday’s Covid-19 figures will be “in excess of 900,” while one week ago they were just 329.
Cases have been growing faster in the past week than the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet)’s worst case prediction, he told RTÉ radio’s News at One.
Last Thursday, the Minister had received a letter from the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) recommending a move to Level 3 restrictions after Christmas. On Monday, the CMO wrote to him again, calling for a move to Level 5.
“Keeping people safe is the priority,” Minister Donnelly said.
The figures were “going up” so quickly that the question now was if this was the same variation as recently identified in the UK, he said.
Mutant strain
The strain could already be in the country but this could not be confirmed until tests were concluded.
Minister Donnelly said it was important that everybody heed the public health advice and reduce the number of contacts.
“We’re going to put the measures in place, but we are asking people to keep each other safe.”
The Minister said that he expected the first vaccination to be carried out on December 30th and after that the next shipment would be the first week in January which would contain “hundreds of thousands of doses.”
It comes as the Government has announced a return to Level 5 restrictions across the island from Christmas Eve.
