The country’s chief medical officer has said that while the key indicators of Covid-19 were improving, it was still “not possible to draw substantive conclusions about the trajectory of the disease at this point”.
Dr Tony Holohan warned the Government in a letter sent last week that the number of cases in older people and nursing homes despite the current Level 5 lockdown remains a concern, according to the Irish Times.
It comes as yesterday saw a further seven deaths and an additional 482 cases of the virus confirmed in the State as Dr Holohan issued a reminder of the “unpredictable nature of this highly infectious disease.”
The figure represents an increase of close to 100 additional cases compared to the number confirmed the day before.
“The hard work undertaken by all of us over the last three weeks is to be commended, but we must not allow our success to date let us drop our guard against the spread of this disease,” Dr Holohan said.
Over-65s
In his letter to the Government, the chief medical officer said a higher proportion of cases notified in the previous fortnight were in the over-65 age group.
“In the last seven days 11.9 per cent of cases notified were aged over 65. This compares with 7.6 per cent of cases notified in the seven days up to the 15th of October,” he wrote.
He said that in the week leading up to the October 31st there were 56 open clusters associated with nursing homes and 33 associated with hospitals.
“Notwithstanding the continued overall decrease in case numbers and incidence rates in the general population, outbreaks in nursing homes and the burden of infection among the older age groups remain a concern,” he said.
The rate of decline in incidence is slower in Dublin that the rest of the country
Advertisement
While Dr Holohan said the growth rate of the disease was “currently negative,” he pointed out that Dublin’s rate continued to differ from the rest of the country.
“The current growth rate for the country is minus 3.5 per cent, compared with plus 4.9 per cent on the 29th of October,” he wrote.
“The growth rate is slightly higher in Dublin at minus 2.7 per cent, which means the rate of decline in incidence is slower in Dublin that the rest of the country.”
“Over the past week the trajectory of the disease in Dublin has differed from the national picture; 31 per cent of all cases notified in the last seven days occurred in Dublin. This compared with 26 per cent last week.”
