Nearly 1000 COVID-19 cases per day in Ireland; CMO urged people to “re-think” their Christmas plans

DUBLIN: Concerns are growing as the number of COVID-19 patients is rising even before Christmas. When the number of cases of COVID per day is almost 1000, the spike in deaths is also causing serious concern.

CMO Dr. Tony Holohan said that further restrictions need to be put in place to protect our families and loved ones. The CMO also urged everyone to re-think their Christmas Christmas plans.

Almost 1000 COVID-19 cases per day

A total of 970 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Ireland and 13 further deaths have also been reported yesterday. CMO Dr. Tony Holohan has expressed serious concern about the current situation. With this, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 81,228 and deaths to 2,171.

“In the last seven days to midnight Monday, we have reported 4,478 cases, an increase of more than 110% over the preceding week, Dr. Holohan said.

“In the last 5 days, we have seen extraordinary growth in the incidence of the virus across the country, significantly increasing the level of risk associated with the kind of inter-generational mixing that is normally experienced over the Christmas holidays,” he added.

Of the cases confirmed yesterday, 470 were men and 494 are women. 64% were under 45 years of age and the median age was 37 years old.

348 cases were in Dublin, 60 in Limerick, 59 in Cork, 59 in Wexford, 55 in Louth and the remaining 389 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

Ireland back to level five

The government has announced that the country will return to Level 5 restrictions from Christmas Eve. The government has suggested closing restaurants and pubs that serve food before 3pm on Christmas Eve. From December 26, only essential bookings will be allowed at hotels.

Supermarkets and pharmacies are allowed to open. Non-essential retailers such as clothing stores are also being allowed to stay open, although there may be some restrictions on sales. Hairdressers and barber shops should be closed.

Non-essential inter-county travel has been banned again from December 26. If people stay in another county for Christmas, they can stay in that place. There must be no new inter-county travel once they return home. The travel ban from the UK has been extended to December 31. Gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools will be open for people to practice on their own. No matches will be allowed except for elite sports.

Micheál Martin urges people to comply with the COVID-19 regulations

Taoiseach Micheál Martin urged people to comply with the COVID-19 preventive measures, including compliance with travel restrictions. The restriction of 5km travel has not been enforced. However, the Taoiseach said people should limit travel within their own counties.

At present the health service in the country is in relatively good condition. However further hospitalization will make the situation worse, Mr. Martin said.

Although there is no clear evidence that the new variant of COVID-19 is in Ireland, but “it’s clear there is something going on out there,” Taoiseach said.

Meanwhile, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said that if the ban is not imposed atleast now, the number of cases will jump to more than 2,000 per day by the New Year.