Covid-19: 727 new cases in Ireland but Laois figure has dropped
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The daily number of new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland is counted at 727 this Monday evening December 21, with the rise in cases gravely concerning and as bad as last March.
However the number for Laois today shows a huge drop from recent days, with less than five cases . This compares to 19 yesterday and 11 on Saturday.
See county by county table below.
The incidence rate for Laois of case numbers over the past 14 days is the seventh highest in the republic, at 173.6, well above the national average which has however climbed to 122.4 cases per 100,000 people.
Updated / Monday, 21 Dec 2020
22:06 We re clearly now in a third wave We re clearly now in a third wave’ @President MU Prof Philip Nolan says as he sets out some detail on #Covid19 trends | https://t.co/bMeJ5iAIlcpic.twitter.com/Wc9rWjmE0L RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 21, 2020
Professor Philip Nolan said there are very rapidly rising numbers, and we re clearly now in a third wave .
The positivity rate of tests is also rising rapidly, which is a sign of widespread transmission in the community, he said.
Of grave concern for NPHET, he said, is that in the second wave in October there was a very long period of time where the disease was confined to young people, specifically those aged 19-24.
COVID-19 LATEST: 727 cases and warning that new variant may already be in Ireland
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There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today but there are 727 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
There is now a total of 80,267 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.
Of the cases notified today:
359 are men / 366 are women
62% are under 45 years of age
The median age is 36 years old
There wee 311 cases in Dublin, 51 in Kilkenny, 48 in Wexford, 44 in Donegal, 44 in Cork and the remaining 229 cases are spread across 19 other counties.
As of 2pm today 241 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 29 are in ICU. 18 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today.
There has been a total of 2,158 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.
As of midnight Sunday 20th December, the HPSC has been notified of 727 confirmed cases of COVID-19; 24 of these are in Kerry.
There is now a total of 80,267 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.
Of the cases notified today:
359 are men / 366 are women
62% are under 45 years of age
The median age is 36 years old
311 in Dublin, 51 in Kilkenny, 48 in Wexford, 44 in Donegal, 44 in Cork and the remaining 229 cases are spread across 19 other counties.
As of 2pm today 241 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 29 are in ICU. 18 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Mr Harris argued that while the restrictions are being tightened there is hope as the Covid-19 vaccine is due to start being administered by the end of the year.
He said the situation with the virus - including the growth of a new strain in the UK is deadly serious .
He said We need to look at our contacts. We need to decide how we re going to have a meaningful and safe Christmas. If you ve been in pubs and restaurants, having people around to the house, having a lot of social contact you need to think long and hard about whether you want to come into contact with a vulnerable relative over the Christmas period.