One more death related to Covid-19 has been reported by health officials today as well as 429 new cases of the disease – which Dr Tony Holohan says is a sign we need to reduce contacts in the next two weeks.
Of the new cases reported by the Department of Health today, 11 are in Galway, which now has a 14-day incidence rate of 60.1 cases per 100,000 population.
Dublin has the most new cases in the latest update with 122, followed by Donegal (46), Limerick (30), Laois (22), and Cork (20).
66% are under 45 years of age and the median age is 34 years old.
There are five people in University Hospital Galway who have been diagnosed with the illness and there is one confirmed case at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe.
Speaking about today’s figures, Dr Tony Holohan said that he is concerned that we are seeing the incidence of COVID-19 rising again.
“429 is a large number of cases by the standard of recent weeks and the five day moving average has now increased above 300 per day,” said the Chief Medical Officer.
“Our efforts in Level 5 in recent weeks brought the 14-day incidence rate down to 78 per 100,000 population, put us in a position of having the lowest disease incidence in Europe and ultimately protected many people and saved many lives.
“Take today’s figures as a sign that we all must now reduce our social contacts, limit our interactions with those outside our households, weigh the risks of what socialising we are planning over the next two weeks, so that we can all have as safe a Christmas as possible.”
