Ireland cannot pursue a ‘zero Covid’ strategy, according to the chief medical officer.
The strategy advocates driving down the number of community transmission cases to zero, allowing the country to return to relative normality.
It has been adopted by countries such as New Zealand.
However, Dr Tony Holohan says it would not be possible in Ireland.
Close Contact
Close contact testing resumes today, after it was suspended at the end of last year due to the high number of people presenting with Covid-19 symptoms.
It comes as 47 further deaths were announced last evening with 466 new cases of the disease – 33 of them in Carlow with 16 in Kilkenny.
Hospitals
Last night in public hospitals there were 1,548 patients with the disease – a total which has fallen by over 400 in the past 10 days.
27 of these are at St Luke’s General for Carlow and Kilkenny after one new admission with four in intensive care while there are two further suspected cases there.
University Hospital Waterford again has the highest number of patients after seven admissions in a 24 hour period bringing their total to 113 with eight in ICU while three others are thought to have Coronavirus too.
Again the only critical care beds available across the South East are in Wexford which has two free.
Meanwhile, the HSE has put in place extra measures to try to track down any cases of the South African or Brazilian variants here.
Local Electoral Areas
Belmullet local electoral area in Co Mayo has a 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 which is nearly three times the national average.
It continues to have the highest rate in the country, at 2,008 cases per 100,000 people – but it’s down sharply on recent weeks.
One in every 50 people in the area tested positive in the two-week period that ended on Monday.
The second highest was Monaghan LEA, at 1,763.
County-wise Carlow’s still in the third highest spot in the country with a rate of 874.7 per 100,000, ahead of the national average of 621.9, while Kilkenny has the fourth lowest figure of 348.7.
In the UK
A British research group is suggesting the UK government allows students to repeat a year of education to make-up for lost learning during the pandemic.
The Education Policy Institute says using teacher assessments instead of exams could lead to unfair results.
It warns there’s a risk of significant grade inflation this year.
