55 more dead, 827 new

The Ministry of Health reports that 55 people in Covid-19 have died and there were 827 cases of the new virus.

Of these, 297 are Dublin, 76 are Cork, 56 are Galway, 46 are Wexford, 37 are Kildare, and the remaining 315 are nationwide.

Today’s cases include 409 men and 416 women, 63% under the age of 45. The median age is 38 years.

As of 2:00 pm today, 1,177 coronavirus patients were hospitalized and 177 were hospitalized in the ICU.

There have been 29 more hospitalizations in the last 24 hours.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, said: If you see the first signs of something like COVID-19 symptoms, you should call the GP. Do not take the “wait and see” approach. “

“Similarly, if you have a cold or flu-like symptom, do not leave home or go to work. Breaking these habits limits the chances of COVID-19 spreading from person to person. . “

In Northern Ireland, seven people have died in Covid-19 and five have died in the last 24 hours. The official death toll is 1,922.

There were also 390 new confirmed cases from a test of 2,020 people.

There are 602 confirmed coronavirus patients in the hospital-a decrease of more than 100 since this time last week. There are 67 Covid-19 patients in the ICU, 59 of whom are on mechanical ventilation.

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Previously, Health Service Executive Paul Reed said that the small number of hospitals “provides a lot of relief to our hospitals, patients and families. It’s still too expensive for safety, but we It’s a good sign that all of our actions are working. “

Continuous good trends # COVID19 Patients admitted to the ICU in 1196 and 177. This brings great relief to our hospitals, patients and families. It’s still too expensive to be safe, but it’s a good sign that all our actions are working. @HSELive

— Paul Reed (@paulreiddublin) February 6, 2021

The story of the latest coronavirus

Meanwhile, Dr. Tony Holohan says he wants evidence to show that a vaccine against Covid-19 can also help prevent infected people from infecting others.

After approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Dr. Holohan provided advice to the National Immunization Advisory Board (NIAC) on the use of this vaccine in the elderly, with an appropriate time interval between the first and second doses. He said he asked him to consider it.

Based on their advice, he said he recommended that the Minister of Health provide only mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) to people over the age of 70.

“This is because both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have shown overall high efficacy, including in the elderly. At this time, there is a lack of data on the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the elderly. doing.”

He said people over the age of 70 were the next group of people in the prioritization schedule agreed by the government.

“They were the most vulnerable to the disease, and during this pandemic they had to bear the greatest burden of illness, hospitalization, and death.

“It’s also important to recognize that they were isolated for a long time last year.

“As a country, being able to provide vaccines that we believe are most effective for those who are most susceptible to Covid-19, that is, those over 70, is a very important issue.

Dr. Holohan said, “We are in a strong position. Thanks to the public efforts to stay at home, limit contact and follow public health advice, the incidence of illness has been significantly reduced and this third wave. You can see that it suppresses Covid-19 infection faster than any other European country.

“It’s very important to maintain this. We know that with more than 1,000 cases per day, we need to take further steps required by the government by March 5th. ..

“It is especially important for vaccinated people to follow the same advice as others, because there is not yet sufficient evidence that vaccination can prevent the spread of the infection.

“Keep safe and follow public health advice. We will work together to overcome this pandemic,” he said.