The chief medical officer has described Ireland's current Covid-19 epidemiological situation as "concerning", adding the demand for testing "is higher than it has been at any point in the pandemic and continues to increase".
In a letter to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly on Thursday following a meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), Dr Tony Holohan updated the Minister on the prevalence of the virus in the community and in hospitals, detailing the impact high case numbers are having on the health system.
Dr Holohan outlined there has been a total of 31,109 Covid cases reported in the seven days to November 24th, showing a 3 per cent increase on last week (to November 17th) and a 13 per cent increase on the previous week (to November 11th).
The five-day rolling average of case numbers is now 4,665, up 11 per cent from 4,210 one week ago. The CMO added the seven-day test positivity rate in the community is now 19.5 per cent, stating the rate has "rarely been higher" but "appears to be stabilising across all age groups in recent days".
Test and Trace is now operating at surge capacity, Dr Holohan said, stressing that the system is under "severe pressure" with overall referrals increasing by 10 per cent compared to the previous week.
Delays in getting test appointments in many parts of the country was attributed to this surge in referrals.
Incidence of #COVID19 remains concerningly high, with 62,401 cases reported in the last 14 days. We need to continue to make every effort we can to drive down incidence of disease and break the chains of transmission.
— Dr Tony Holohan (@DrTonyHolohan) November 25, 2021
Since the rollout of antigen tests for fully-vaccinated close contacts from October 28th, the CMO said the HSE dispatched, on average, 3,868 tests a day in the week to November 25th (up 20 per cent on the previous week).
Almost 23,000 antigen test results have been reported by close contacts up to Thursday, of which 15,118 returned a "not detected"/negative result, and 7,629 returns as "detected"/positive. There were 4,403 cases confirmed following a PCR test.
In hospital on Thursday morning, there were 598 people with the virus, down from 643 at the same point last week, but up from 543 on November 11th (the day of Nphet's previous meeting). Of that 598 people, 126 Covid patients were being treated in ICU compared to 118 on November 18th and 97 on November 11th.
Of the 232 people with the virus admitted to intensive care over the past two months, 50 per cent (117) were unvaccinated, 3 per cent (7) were partially vaccinated and 43 per cent (99) were fully vaccinated.
Dr Holohan also confirmed that as of November 24th, there have been 5,652 Covid-related deaths in Ireland, with 43 additional deaths confirmed since November 17th, adding that "deaths are increasing very slowly at approximately 7 per day or 200 deaths per month".
Nphet recommendations
Given the prevalence of the virus in the country and the number of outbreaks in healthcare, school/childcare and workplace settings, the CMO outlined Nphet's recommendations to Mr Donnelly, including that 'indoor community gatherings' for children aged 12 and younger should be avoided for at least two weeks.
These events, Dr Holohan explained, include communions, nativity performances, sleepovers and indoor play dates.
Nphet also recommended that children aged nine and up should wear face coverings in shops and on public transport due to the "current high incidence rate in children aged 5-12 years". The group further recommended that students in third class and above in primary school should wear face masks during class, with exemptions "as appropriate".
The letter to the Minister added that Nphet will continue to monitor the epidemiological situation, with the more widespread use of Covid certs "not yet covered by the regime", the expediting of the booster vaccine programme, and the encouragement of vaccine uptake among "marginalised and hard to reach groups" among the topics being considered.
Dr Holohan stated Nphet will meet again next week, following which the group will make "any recommendations it considers necessary".
