Infection level “too high for school to resume”

Dr. Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer of HSE, said that Covid-19 infection levels remain “frankly too high” for schools to reopen.

Talking about RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said it was tragic to talk about the school closure again and he didn’t want to see this protracted because of what the children experienced during the first blockade.

However, according to him, the current level of infection is 10 times higher than in early December.

He said this needs to be reduced to a much lower level “before adding additional risk by mixing crowds in a school environment”.

Dr. Henry wants to have children with additional needs that are much more vulnerable to more scrutinized elements of education, especially school closures, “specific elements of the education sector are prioritized. I hope that. “

He said Ireland is still in an “unstable position” and there is still an “abnormal level” of infection, while there is some positive news that the level of illness in the community is declining. ..

He said he believes the average number of cases in the community over the last five days is over 2,500 per day.

“These cases are not yet ill, some require hospitalization, some require intensive care, and unfortunately some die,” he said.

The story of the latest coronavirus

“Currently, the level of infection is frankly too high to reopen school,” says Dr. Colm Henry. pic.twitter.com/zgPSs06BQg

-RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 22, 2021

Dr. Henry said hospital staff are still under severe pressure as they work in double shifts and focus on caring for highly ill patients.

In a sense, he said, “miracles weren’t worse than them,” in this particular surge.

He added that there are currently 29% of nursing homes and 1,800 staff members, some nursing homes need assistance from HSE, and in a few cases the Army provides some assistance.

“We remain in an unstable position,” says Dr. Colm Henry, with 10 times the infection level in early December. pic.twitter.com/CwHJksSa18

-RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 22, 2021

Earlier, Health Service Executive CEO Paul Reed said 66% (211 cases) of ICU patients nationwide were infected with Covid-19.

In a tweet, he also stated that 300 people were receiving breathing assistance outside the ICU.

I have never seen 66% of ICU (211) patients being treated for the same illness. We are fighting hard to maintain a safe level of care, but it is becoming more and more difficult. 300 patients also receive respiratory assistance outside the ICU. Nothing is more serious than this. #Take care @HSELive # COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) (# If there is no character limit, add parentheses when it first appears

— Paul Reed (@paulreiddublin) January 22, 2021

However, the number of hospitals has begun to decline, and the number of intensive care units has leveled off.

Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the Irish Epidemiology Modeling Advisory Group at NPHET, said last night that the incidence of the disease has dropped by 7% to 10% per day, which could be halved in 7 to 10 days. Said.

But he warns that it will be difficult to maintain that pace, especially as the new, more contagious virus strains first identified in the United Kingdom now account for 62% of all our cases and are increasing. did.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health reported 51 new deaths and 2,608 additional cases of Covid-19.

A total of 54,318 cases of coronavirus have been identified in the last two weeks.

Professor Nolan said the R number (fertility) was estimated to be between 0.5 and 0.8, which would be difficult to maintain.

In a letter to the government last week, Dr. Holohan warned that at least 1,000 Covid-19-related deaths could occur in January.

In a letter dated 14 January, Dr. Holohan stated that NPHET modeling showed that at least 25-30 people could die each day in connection with the outbreak of the community.

# COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) (# If there is no character limit, add parentheses when it first appears The case in Ireland. Reduce social distance and wear a face cover to slow the spread of the virus. #stay at home #Take care https://t.co/7GZdJOwl2e pic.twitter.com/VB4kOKxFCa

— HSE Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC) (@ hpscireland) January 22, 2021

Meanwhile, a World Health Organization spokesperson said new variants of the coronavirus do not appear to cause more serious illnesses, but can be transmitted more effectively.

Regarding Morning Ireland, Dr. Margaret Harris said this meant that people had to be more rigorous about following public health guidelines.

“What each country has to do is a complete risk assessment. See what’s really happening in their community right now,” she said.

“You have a strong and widespread community transmission, so at this point your system is fully extended and you don’t want to bring in more. So you rate it and don’t bring in any more transmissions. Find a way. “”

She said the vaccine prevents people from getting sick, but it is not yet known if it will prevent the transmission of the virus.

“In other words, measures need to be continued,” Dr. Harris said. “By tracking all vaccinated people and all the data, we can know more about whether the vaccine is protected from infection.”