IRELAND is facing into the “biggest and nastiest” wave of the Covid-19 pandemic that we’ve seen so far and our healthcare service is at serious risk of being overwhelmed, a health expert has warned.
UCC Professor Gerry Killeen is a member of the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group (ISAG), an all-island volunteer group of academics and medics who are advocating for a Covid-19 elimination strategy.
“What makes this third wave even more concerning is there‘s a fourth wave emerging, a wave caused by this new variant of the virus which is more transmissible. And the plan to live with the virus as it was, was never tenable. It was always going to be a rollercoaster,” he said.
765 new cases of COVID-19 reported today, as first vaccinations due to begin tomorrow By Michael Carolan
765 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported today and one additional death.
Of the cases notified today:
401 are men / 358 are women
70% are under 45 years of age
The median age is 33 years old
291 in Dublin, 63 in Cork, 59 in Monaghan,
49 in Louth,
43 in Meath, and the remaining 260 cases are spread across all other counties.
As of 2pm today 359 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 30 are in ICU. 41 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours, with 5 additional admissions to ICU.
Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “The data we are reporting today are lower than days up to 26 December. This however results from factors related to the time of the year, such as the lower rates of attendance and referrals and presentation for testing for several days over Christmas.