Increase in Covid related hospitalisations as latest figures show at least one more case in Kilkenny

89 new cases of Covid 19 have been confirmed in the Republic and one further death.

The person died in June and nobody has died after contracting the disease in the last two weeks, though the overall number remains at 1,777 following the denotification of an earlier death.

53 of the new cases are in Dublin, 15 in Limerick and the remaining 21 are spread in pockets of ‘less than five’ across 13 other counties of Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford, Kildare, Wicklow, Waterford, Clare, Cork, Leitrim, Longford, Meath, Offaly and Westmeath,

63% of the latest instances are aged 45 and younger, more of them women than men (48/40), with 56% associated with outbreaks or close contacts of a confirmed case while eight identify as community transmission.

The figures are to midnight Tuesday, September 1 and bring to 29,114 the number of positive tests in the state to date. Locally, as of midnight Monday, August 31, Kilkenny had reached 404 with Carlow at 247.

Professor Philip Nolan from the National Public Health Emergency Team says there’s been an increase in hospitalisations saying “Something that is a cause of concern is that going back several weeks we were seeing fewer than ten people in hospital on a typical day, that number has risen, so over the last five days on average there have been 35 people in hospital and four admissions per day and today there are 42 people in hospital and eight admissions in the preceding 24 hours”.

He adds “A close analysis of case numbers and patterns over the last week suggests that the epidemic is growing very slowly in many counties across Ireland, including Dublin. A large number of cases are associated with outbreaks in private houses and families. The R number is just above one, perhaps as high as 1.2, so the virus is circulating in the community at levels we don’t want to see. This means we need to remain focused on our shared national priorities, which are the safe reopening of schools, continuing to resume non-COVID healthcare and protecting the most vulnerable to this dangerous disease.”

Chief Clinical Officer with the HSE, Dr Colm Henry says “The opening of schools is an important milestone in our management of this pandemic. Evolving knowledge from elsewhere provides some assurance to parents of children who are returning to school regarding the behaviour of this virus among children and the risks of transmission between children. We appreciate the hard work of teachers, parents, guardians, principals and school staff in getting us to this much anticipated milestone”.

He adds “What we can do to help this effort is play our own part as individuals – physically distance from others at all times, avoid congregated settings, and wear a face covering where appropriate.”

Dr Henry concludes “The ongoing resumption of healthcare services is also down to our individual actions in the community. To protect our healthcare staff and patients, we need everyone to keep their social contacts low and remember to physically distance when meeting those from other households. We all need to make these safe behaviours a part of our daily routines.”

While according to the Acting Chief Medical Officer “Every single contribution and effort you make counts to the national push to curb the effects of this infectious virus on our society. Every time you take responsibility to keep your social contacts low, avoid a crowded place or get-together, know that you are making a vital difference. It is individual action built upon individual action that will get us through this pandemic.”

Dr Ronan Glynn also says “The effort to suppress COVID-19 begins in our own homes. Many confirmed cases in the past weeks and months have been close contacts of confirmed cases. It is in our own household through regular handwashing, cough and sneeze hygiene, cleaning surfaces, limiting the number of visitors and isolating as soon as we experience any concerning symptoms that we can make the biggest impact.”