Covid-19: Three counties record 14-day incidence rate below 100
There Done Continued Hse Of Paul Said There Reduction Still In Are The Ceo The Work More Be Cases Number Trends To Good Reid But On Is
Every county now has an estimated 14-day incidence rate of less than 300 for the first time in 36 days.
The national figure now stands at 161 per 100,000 people.
Three counties, Wicklow, Wexford and Leitrim all having 14-day incidence rates of less than 100 - with Leitrim on just 37 after finding 12 Covid-19 cases in the past two weeks.
HSE CEO Paul Reid tweeted this morning to say there are continued good trends on the reduction in the number of cases but there is still more work to be done.
In hospitals today, there are 279 patients with the disease which is the lowest number since October 18, while there are still 41 people in ICU.
Continued good trends on reducing numbers of cases & positivity on testing now below 4%. Hospital numbers still holding at 280 with 41 people in ICU. We obviously want these to come down much more. Good hope on a vaccine but the basics count more than ever. @HSELive #COVID19
— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) November 10, 2020
It comes following the announcement by Pfizer about its vaccine being 90% effective in trials.
The European Commission is in talks to order 200 million doses of the jab and it is expected it would be rolled out to member states on a per capita basis.
It is believed on that basis, Ireland could get around two million vaccines.
"First, it goes to the healthcare workers because they are on the frontline and they are the ones at risk of getting infected," said immunology expert Luke O'Neill.
"Secondly, the vulnerable - that means older people. You could see a situation where every nursing home will have the vaccine available to it maybe before Christmas. But that seems a bit ambitious.
"Certainly early next year we will see the older population being vaccinated."