A further 5,634 cases of COVID-19 have been reported by health officials in the Republic today.
As of 8am today, 684 people with COVID patients are hospitalised nationally, of whom 126 are in intensive care units.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, said that incidence of COVID-19 is continuing to rise, and today, they are once again reporting a concerning number of confirmed cases.
“We know that every 1,000 cases of COVID-19 will lead to 20-25 people in hospital and between 2-3 people requiring critical care in ICU. We also know that, since June of this year, 1 in 4 people who had COVID-19 and required critical care in our hospitals have sadly passed away,” he said.
“This information is not easy to hear, but it is an important reminder of the serious risk that COVID-19 continues to pose to all of us.”
Dr Holohan said that we can change the trajectory of this disease by breaking the chains of transmission and the best way to do that is to continue to adhere to all the layers of the public health advice.
“We know that this will work, and we know that people are making many additional efforts to drive down incidence of disease in the community,” he said.
“Our latest data from Amárach is showing that almost 57% of people are reducing the number of people they plan to meet between now and Christmas and 45% have cancelled plans.
“We can also see that the level of compliance with the Digital COVID Cert has increased by almost 10% to 85%.
“None of this is easy, particularly at this time of year. However, the data above shows that people are making a concerted effort to reduce their risk. If we can keep this going, it will have a positive impact on disease transmission.”
