Coronavirus Ireland: Decision to Relax Lockdown Limit “Goes to Wire” -Dr Tony Horahan

The decision to deregulate the coronavirus at the end of the current lockdown period will be entirely down, the chief medical officer said.

r Tony Hollohan said he was concerned that the rate of improvement in key indicators of disease was beginning to slow and strengthened his belief that it was not the time to recommend mitigation.

However, he acknowledged that the situation could change before the end of the current May 5 restriction period.

Dr. Hollohan chairs the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), which makes a formal recommendation to the government on whether lockdowns can be reduced.

“That’s after all I’m not determined,” he said.

Iraq’s coronavirus deaths increased to 1,102 after a further 18 deaths were reported by the Department of Health on Monday.

There were 386 newly confirmed cases of Covid-19, with a total of 19,648 cases in Ireland since the outbreak began.

Dr. Hollohan’s warning came when HSE detailed a plan to reach 100,000 Covid-19 tests per week by mid-May.

Meanwhile, in a report that coronavirus-related syndromes may have occurred in the UK among children, Dr. Hollohan said there was no evidence of similar in Ireland.

The chief medical officer also said he did not believe that the relatively high incidence of the virus in some counties on the Irish border was associated with infected persons traveling from Northern Ireland.

Elsewhere, the Rose of Tralee has become the hottest event to be the victim of an emergency after it was announced that the festival will not be held for the first time in 61 years of history.

Dr. Hollohan told the daily NPHET briefings: “Towards the end of last week, if we were evaluated on any of the days I was with you at the end of last week, we You have reached the point where you will lift the restriction.

“If anything, given what we’re looking at, I’m more convinced of that.”

He said ICU enrollment at a “sustainable” rate was small but needed to be further reduced.

He also said that further efforts are needed to address outbreaks in residential environments such as nursing homes.

The number of outbreak populations in nursing homes rose to 211 on Monday. Of the people who died of the coronavirus in Ireland, 546 were residents of nursing homes.

“I’m hoping that over the course of a week, we’ll have seven more days left until May 5th. We hope we’ll continue to see improvements in experience, but there’s still a way to go.” He said.

“I may chair the process, but I’m just one of them. We have many different voices. We will discuss tomorrow. We see We will take a further look at the types of measures that are important for you: the levels associated with these measures, and try to wait as long as possible before applying them.

“People are frustrated and these measures are difficult for people, but we need to continue our commitment to making every effort we can.”

The HSE said early Monday that it hopes to meet its 100,000 coronavirus testing goals per week by mid-month.

HSE Chief Executive Paul Reed outlined a plan to enhance testing and contact tracking, and described it as a “significant part” of the strategy to enable restrictions to be lifted.

“This includes a major plan to expand our capabilities, make some changes to the process, set up some new community test centers, and ultimately deliver more. He said.

Reed also said testing the staff and residents of all long-term home care facilities was the main focus.

“This is a very important program and I would like to thank the National Ambulance for working with a community team that has tested over 20,000 residents in the past week.

“We have also launched many clinical assessment hubs across the country and currently have 20 clinical assessment hubs in place.”

Reid said HSE is “on the go” on the challenge of procuring personal protective equipment (PPE), with additional deliveries coming from China.

The organizer of the Tralee Rose Festival said it would be held again in August 2021.

They said: “This is the first time in the history of our 61 years that the festival has been postponed, but it is the right decision as we now play our part in keeping each other safe. is.”

Meanwhile, an organization representing people with intellectual disabilities said there was a positive meeting with Health Minister Simon Harris.

Discussions continued as concerns over the outbreak of Covid-19 in long-term home care homes continued.

Ireland said 90% of disability services were virus-free, and services with outbreaks were generally well managed. 10 people have died in a disabled service setting.

PA media