Tomas Doherty and Julie Smyth
The number of people sick in the State’s hospitals with Covid-19 has passed 1,000 for the first time.
The chief executive of the HSE described the figure of 1,022 patients as “a sad milestone that nobody wanted to happen.”
At University Hospital Waterford there are now 31 patients with the virus on site – five in critical care units and one suspected case in critical care.
In a tweet, Paul Reid also said that 88 people with the disease were now in intensive care.
“It concerns me relaying this. But I do know we will get through a tough time ahead, with your help,” he said.
Coronavirus: 1,754 new cases and 11 more deaths reported as hospital numbers pass 500 Nphet warns 9,000 additional new cases will be reported in coming days
Fri, Jan 1, 2021, 08:04 Updated: Fri, Jan 1, 2021, 20:20
More than 9,000 additional coronavirus cases are expected to be reported in the coming days as positivity rates exceed 20 per cent, the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has said.
A further 1,754 cases of the virus and 11 more deaths were reported by Nphet on New Year’s Day.
The team said up to 70 people were being admitted to the State’s hospital system each day and the number of people in hospital with the disease passed 500 on Friday. There are now 47 people seriously ill in ICU with Covid-19. Some 9,000 new cases are expected to be reported in the coming days because of a backlog in Christmas reporting.
This week s schedule includes vaccinations right through the weekend.
Huge credit to all involved ððð pic.twitter.com/rBfJ7AkD1Câ Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) December 31, 2020
He said the reproductive number is at least 1.6 to 1.8, and the daily growth rate is estimated at 7 to 10 per cent, giving a doubling time of seven to 10 days.
However, Prof Nolan said the number of positive cases is higher than has been reported, due to a lag between a test coming back positive and being reported in the system.
He said this situation arose because âvery few peopleâ presented for tests on Christmas, Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephenâs Day. However, immediately after Chrsistmas, there were very large numbers testing.