How bad is the situation in Ireland’s Covid-19 today? Three major updates show spread severity

Ireland boasted one of the lowest COVID-19 infection rates in Europe just a few weeks ago, but this has changed significantly.

Today, the country is one of the most affected countries in the world and is at risk of exponential growth in infection rates.

The record-breaking Covid-19 hospitalization has made the healthcare system “more and more tense.”

Here we look at some important indicators of how much the COVID-19 virus epidemic has worsened in Ireland.

Ireland’s R number can be as high as 3

Irish health officials warn that the number of COVID-19’R’, which is the infection rate of the population, can be as high as three in Ireland.

This means that for each person infected with the virus, three more people will be infected, and according to the current infection rate, each will infect three more people.

Professor Philip Nolan of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) estimates that weekend R numbers are between 2.4 and 3, and Ireland is experiencing the fastest viral replication rate ever, which is “precedent.” It’s so expensive that there is no such thing. ” “.

He states: “Worry, we have a very high incidence in patients over the age of 65, affecting the hospitalization and mortality we are seeing and will see.”

NPHET seriously predicts that Ireland will have 8,000 cases a day next week, but the impact of increased blockades seems to be well established.

“The optimistic forecast is [COVID-19 figures] It is currently flat and will fall between 1100 and 2500 by the end of January, “Nolan said.

Monaghan and Raus double the national average

As of January 9, the 14-day incidence of the virus is 1,162 per 100,000 population.

The highest proportion of cases was in people aged 25-24, followed by those aged 35-44.

Monaghan and Raus show the highest 14-day incidence in the country,

2296 infections per 100,000, 2008 per 100,000.

This means that the incidence of both border counties is about twice that of the whole country.

average.

There were a total of 3,237 confirmed cases between December 26th and January 8th, and the incidence in Limerick is currently 1660 per 100,000.

There are 1,611 cases in Waterford in two weeks, with an incidence of 1386 per 100,000.

This was followed by a cavan with more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases confirmed in the last two weeks, showing a county incidence of 1378 per 100,000.

“Our healthcare system is becoming more and more tense.”

HSE CEO Paul Reid continues to give serious warnings about the worsening situation in Ireland due to the surge in cases across Ireland.

Reed confirmed that as of today (January 10th), there were 1,421 inpatients with COVID-19, an increase of 136 since the numbers were last reported.

This is about 500 more than the number of hospitals seen in Ireland’s first wave.

Currently, 120 people in the Irish ICU are infected with the virus.

The situation in Ireland is drawing public attention, especially from US epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding, a public health scientist who is now a senior fellow of the American Federation of Scientists in Washington, DC.

Feigl-Ding, a former faculty member and researcher at Harvard Medical School, shared a diagram showing how the cases of COVID-19 are “populating” here.

This shows that the number of cases per million in Ireland is steadily declining from late October to early December, but the numbers are skyrocketing during Christmas both here and in the UK. I will.

Scientists have pointed out that the new “UK” strain of COVID-19, the B117 mutant, currently accounts for 25% of Irish COVID-19 cases.

This was confirmed by the government last week as Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tony Holohan detected a swab of a highly contagious strain nationwide.

He also said the Danish CDC could issue a harsh warning about the potential impact of the B117 variant, raising the country’s R number from 0.4 to 0.7 and soon “dominate” the world. .. This is in line with the findings of Imperial College London published on New Year’s Eve.

Some experts agree that the B117 mutant is 40% to 80% more contagious than the original COVID-19 strain, and some experts refer to the mutant as a “beast.”