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New Zealand enjoying life we can only envy from afar
Updated / Monday, 25 Jan 2021
21:02
Correspondent
It can feel like looking at another planet, rather than a country on the other side of the world. New Zealand is currently enjoying a life we can only eye enviously from afar - from spectator-filled rugby stadiums to New Year s celebrations.
The country has become something of a poster child for its handling of the Covid epidemic.
It reacted swiftly and severely as the pandemic took hold last year, and those early moves are credited with helping the country of five million virtually eliminate the coronavirus within its borders. So far there has been only 1,927 confirmed cases in New Zealand since the start of the crisis.
Updated / Tuesday, 15 Dec 2020
22:40
Eight more Covid-19 related deaths and 329 new cases have been notified to the Department of Health.
This means there have been a total of 2,134 deaths and 76,776 cases in Ireland.
The figures also show that 196 people are in hospital with the virus, 31 of which are in intensive care, down two from yesterday.
There were 13 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
The 14-day virus incidence rate per 100,000 of the population is 84.7.
162 of the cases notified today are men and 166 are women, with 64% under the age of 45. The median age is 37.
86 of the infections are in Dublin, 41 in Louth, 34 in Donegal, 25 in Limerick and 17 in Kildare.
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Explainer: What we do and don t know about the new coronavirus strain reported in the UK
The new variant has not been detected in Ireland to date. By Adam Daly Tuesday 15 Dec 2020, 1:47 PM Dec 15th 2020, 1:47 PM 14,793 Views 11 Comments
Image: Shutterstock/MVelishchuk
Image: Shutterstock/MVelishchuk
IT WAS ANNOUNCED yesterday that a new strain of the virus that causes Covid-19 had been identified in England which may be associated with a faster spread of infections.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed the existence of the new variant as he announced that London and some of its surrounding areas will move into the highest tier of restrictions.
Speaking on RTÉ s News At One, he added, there is no evidence at this point in time that the virus should pose a significant concern .
He reassured the public that while it was not impossible, it was very unlikely that a single mutation would knock out the vaccine response.
Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, also described the new variant of Covid-19 as not significantly different .
It should not take too long to see if the new vaccines will work on it, he told RTÉ s Morning Ireland.
Professor McKee said news of the new strain of the virus was announced in a very unusual way, particularly given that there have been so many other mutations over the past number of months that were not announced in the same way .