Health

Coronavirus: 827 new cases and 55 further deaths reported as ‘really steady progress’ made

Falling trend in Covid-19 hospitalisations provides ‘much relief’ - Reid

A glass sculpture of the coronavirus by Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram, which, measuring 23cm in diameter, is a million times larger than the actual virus. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Wire
A glass sculpture of the coronavirus by Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram, which, measuring 23cm in diameter, is a million times larger than the actual virus. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Wire
Sat Feb 06 2021 - 18:07

There were 827 new Covid-19 cases and 55 further deaths reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) on Saturday.

Nphet’s modelling expert Professor Philip Nolan said the country was making “really steady progress after a very challenging surge”. In a tweet on Saturday he said “if we keep this up we can drive infections to very low numbers and set the scene for phased, cautious, and controlled resumption of our priority activities”.

Of the deaths reported on Saturday, 36 occurred in February, 18 in January, and the date of one remains under investigation.

The median age of those who died was 86 years and the age range of the people was between 49 and 100 years. It brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in the State to 3,764. and the total number of confirmed cases to 202,548.

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Of the cases notified on Saturday 63 per cent are aged under 45 years with a median age of 38. Ther are 297 cases in Dublin, 76 in Cork, 56 in Galway, 46 in Wexford, 37 in Kildare and the remaining 315 cases are spread across all other counties.

The five day moving average of daily cases across the State is 1,015 while the 14 day incidence rate per 100,000 has dropped to 345.6. The county with the highest incidence per 100,000 is Monaghan at 781.9 while the lowest incidence is in Roscommon at 131.7.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan urged people to break old habits such as waiting over the weekend when feeling unwell to call their GP. He said people should call their doctor at the first sign of any symptoms and should not leave their house or go to work if they have any cold or flu symptoms .

As of 2pm on Saturday, 1,177 Covid -19 patients were hospitalised, of which 177 were in ICU. There have been 29 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

HSE chief executive Paul Reid said the falling trend of Covid hospitalisations in “is providing much relief for our hospitals, patients and families”.

“It is still far too high for safety but a good sign that all of our actions are working,” Mr Reid said.

Meanwhile a further seven people with Covid-19 have died in Northern Ireland.

Another 390 positive cases of the virus were also notified by the North’s Department of Health on Saturday. There are 602 Covid-positive inpatients in hospital, 67 of whom are in intensive care. – Additional reporting PA