Holohan: People must make decisions over Christmas knowing they could spread Covid-19
Cork In Outside Queue A Picture: City Centre H&m Denis Minihane
Nobody is being told to choose between their friends and family ahead of Christmas but people must make decisions knowing they could spread Covid-19, Dr Tony Holohan has said.
The Chief Medical Officer was speaking as a further six deaths from the virus were announced, along with 183 new cases, the lowest figure since September, though Deputy CMO Ronan Glynn said an IT issue may have seen these cases underreported by up to 100.
Dr Holohan said that while it was not a case of choosing to see friends when pubs and restaurants open on Friday, that increased social interactions would lead to increased viral spread before Christmas.
"There's a lot of things we can do, but we don't need to do all of them. We each individually need to cut down our discretionary contacts.
He added that if Ireland goes back to the levels of spread seen in October, it was possible that another lockdown might be needed. However, Dr Holohan said that this was "not inevitable".
The 14-day incidence rate is now 79.7 per 100,000 people, another decline from its peak at 287. However, Professor Philip Nolan said that while there was almost certainly more cases found in the last 24 hours than announced, it was important to look not at a single day's figures and more at broader trends.
We are now in Level 3 of restrictions, with some changes. There will be additional special measures for Christmas. You can find the full details of Level 3 and Christmas guidelines here: https://t.co/5JfhrvgQwi pic.twitter.com/EC80iyQDEW
— HSE Ireland (@HSELive) December 1, 2020
He said the positivity rate and case counts have stayed "static" and showed that the level of disease spread has stayed the same. He added he would not expect case numbers to decline in the next week to 10 days.
The rise in daily deaths is due to older people contracting the disease towards the end of the second wave, Prof Nolan said. He warned that a high-level of transmission through Christmas could lead to 800 to 1,200 cases a day in early January.
He said the improvement in disease levels was "seen across the country". He added that a rise in social contacts immediately following the mid-term break had led to an increase in viral transmission, which increased the R number.
Dr Holohan said he was "always concerned" about vaccine misinformation, adding the anti-vaccine lobby had begun attempting to sew doubt about a Covid-19 vaccine, for which data has yet to even be released.