Covid-19: 518 new cases as Holohan warns of 'concerning deterioration'

There were no new deaths meaning the death toll remains at 1,810 Covid-19 related deaths. 

A further breakdown of the case data released by the HPSC shows Dublin had the most confirmed cases followed by Cork and then Limerick. 

• 252 cases are men and 266 are women 
• 68% of cases are under 45 years of age 
• 30% of cases are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case 
• 78 cases of Covid-19 have been identified as community transmission 
• 134 in Dublin, 53 in Cork, 49 in Limerick, 34 in Donegal, 32 in Meath and the remaining 216 cases are spread across 20 counties.

Speaking about the latest case numbers, Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer from Department of Health, said it was important to suppress the rising Covid-19 cases ahead of winter. 

Dr Holohan said: “We have seen in recent days a significant and concerning deterioration in the epidemiological situation nationally.

It is vital that we do everything in our power now to arrest the current trajectory nationally and very substantially suppress the virus back down to a low level of transmission in advance of the winter months.

Dr Holohan also emphasised the need for discipline with regards to public health guidelines. 

“Do not become distracted from the core public health messages; wash hands regularly, keep your distance, wear face coverings where appropriate, avoid crowded environments, cut your social contacts down to minimum levels, know the symptoms and isolate yourself and contact your GP immediately if you experience them,” Dr Holohan said. 

Dr Glynn Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said solidarity was necessary to keep schools open and maintain necessary public health services with the rising cases numbers. 

“Our core priorities have to be protected. We must work together to keep our non-covid health services open, keep our children in education and protect the lives of the most vulnerable to this disease.

“Solidarity is now more important than ever as we work to once again suppress this virus in our communities,” said Dr Glynn.  

The latest case numbers come as the government has rejected NPHET's weekend call to move the country to Level Five for Covid-19 restrictions.

Instead, the government is expected to announce a nationwide move to Level Three in response to rising case numbers. 

The decision follows a meeting today between the government party leaders and the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan at Government Buildings.

NPHET's recommendations were based on the country's lack of healthcare capacity as Covid-19 cases have continued to increase in recent weeks along with patient admission to hospital for treatment of the virus. 

Hospital admissions are just one of the factors studied by the public health experts but it was noted as a major cause of concern over the weekend.

Across OECD countries, Ireland is at the low end with just five beds per 100,000 of population and remains the only Western European country without universal coverage for primary care.