Transmission of Covid-19 has been suppressed in the last week but the public should not relax in the fight against coronavirus, public health chiefs have said.
The seven-day incidence rate of Covid-19 has dropped by 30 per cent, from an average of 1,200 cases per day to 836. 772 additional Covid-19 cases and six further deaths were confirmed yesterday.
Anticipatory behaviour
The Chief Medical Officer says he is wary of 'anticipatory behaviour' as the spread of Covid-19 lessens.
Dr Tony Holohan says he doesn't want people to plan parties or arrange unnecessary visits to other homes as the situation starts to improve.
However on the other side of that, the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) believes people anticipating the worsening condition in the past few weeks has led to the growth of disease slowing down.
"Our assessment is that we would need to be on a track of a reproductive order somewhere around 0.5 to get to get case numbers close to 100 or less a day from where we were at the outset of this six week period.
"The basic point is we'll go as low as we possibly can and the lower we get, the better the outcome."
The overall situation has improved but we have to remember that these are very early days.
772 additional Covid-19 cases and six further deaths were confirmed yesterday.
Speaking at last night's Nphet briefing, Dr Desmond Hickey said: “In only four European countries was there a negative percentage change in the seven-day incidence rate recorded and Ireland was one of those countries, with a 30 per cent decrease in the seven-day incidence in the week up to 30th of October compared to the previous seven days.”
We are making progress on #COVID19 - we are following public health advice. Young people especially. Best country in EU in most recent 7-day rates. But- too early to stop. Rates still rising in >65s and have not dropped in Dublin. We need to keep it up. @HSELive @roinnslainte
— Dr Tony Holohan (@CMOIreland) October 31, 2020
Dr Holohan added: “The overall situation has improved but we have to remember that these are very early days. This improvement will only be maintained if we keep going in our efforts.
“We have to remember that incidence is increasing in older age groups, who are particularly vulnerable to this disease. The way in which we can protect them is if we continue to drive down transmission across the whole population.”
