Covid cases fall for seventh week in a row

Last week was also the first week since the beginning of September where there have been less than 2,000 confirmed cases.

So far, Ireland has recorded 72,417 cases of Covid since the beginning of the pandemic.

The median age of newly confirmed Covid-19 cases recorded during the same week was 35 years old. 

However, the percentage of cases in the 65–79 and 80 plus age categories increased in recent weeks.

Those aged 65 and over made up 13% of cases last week, up from less than 5% in the week ending August 10. 

More than 30 people have died from Covid-related complications in each of the last five weeks. 

It is the fourth week in a row that Dublin had less than 1,000 weekly cases, representing a downward trend as the effects of lockdown took hold.

However, Dublin still accounted for 32% of all new cases last week.

Donegal is the county with the second-highest number of new cases, it recorded 159 last week.

188 of last week's confirmed cases were among health care workers.

Over half (55%) of all confirmed cases are linked to an outbreak, and 33% of cases linked to an outbreak are for people under 25 years old.  

The number of cases for the week ending 27 November is 1,637 - this is the seventh week in a row that cases have decreasedhttps://t.co/VBkP1EGLbs #CSOIreland #Ireland #COVIDIreland #Health #SocialImpact pic.twitter.com/MGqK5Ueplp

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) December 4, 2020

In the past month, private houses accounted for 43% of all cases which were linked to an outbreak. 

Hospitals accounted for 16% of cases related to outbreaks and nursing homes account for 10%.

Childcare facilities and schools combined account for 6% of cases linked to an outbreak, for the same period.

Most people who tested positive for the virus last week had three close contacts on average, down from four in early October. 

There were 56,341 referrals for community testing last week, which was a decrease. The decrease was most notable in the 25–44 age groups, which fell from 23,023 to 20,362 last week.

48% of the testing referrals came from GPs, however, the CSO said testing numbers cannot be directly compared with referrals for community testing as there is a significant number of tests completed in hospitals, as well as a time lag between referral and test completion. 

Several referrals also do not result in a test being completed. 

However, weekly testing numbers from HSE labs and hospitals show that there were 75,601 tests completed last week, and the positivity rate was 2.6%, down from 3.5% in the previous week.

The average Covid mortality rate in November was eight people dying per 1,000 confirmed cases, down from a peak of 74 people dying per 1,000 cases in April. 

The average hospitalisation rate in November was 58 people per 1,000 confirmed cases, down from a peak of 192 people per 1,000 cases in March.

The average ICU rate in September, October and November was five people or less per 1,000 confirmed cases, down from a peak of 27 people per 1,000 cases in March. 

This morning, the number of #COVID19 cases in hospital has come down again to 222 with 30 in ICU. Today, as society & the economy opens up, let's all take precautions to value & protect into December the great progress that we've made. We all want to open up & stay safe.@HSELive

— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) December 1, 2020

Since the start of the pandemic, 1,682 people with underlying conditions have died due to Covid, out of 18,365 people with underlying conditions who have tested positive for the virus.

The median age of those dying with underlying conditions is 83, and there have been 1,562 Covid deaths in people with underlying conditions over 65. 

Of the 129 deaths in the 25-64 age group, 119 had underlying conditions.

In terms of underlying conditions, chronic heart disease was present in 44% of deaths.