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MORE THAN 2,000 people in Ireland have now died after being diagnosed with Covid-19.
The Department of Health confirmed this evening that a further 12 people have died, bringing the total number of deaths to 2,006.
The Department also confirmed 379 additional cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, bringing the total number of cases to 69,058.
Commenting on the milestone of 2,000 deaths being reached, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan noted how much the pandemic has impacted on families and communities across the country.
“It is important that we continue to work together if we are to suppress this virus and protect as many people as possible,” Holohan said.
“For the next two weeks, work from home, stay at home and follow public health advice.”
2,000 deaths
This evening’s sobering milestone comes following an increase in deaths of people diagnosed with coronavirus in recent months as Ireland copes with the second wave of the pandemic.
The first death of a person diagnosed with Covid-19 – of a woman in the east of the country – was confirmed on 11 March, the same day the World Health Organization (WHO) classified Covid-19 as a pandemic.
The number of cases and deaths grew exponentially as the virus spread across Ireland in the early spring.
By 1 June, 1,650 people had lost their lives to Covid-19.
Restrictions at the time meant that many family members, friends and loved ones could not properly celebrate the lives of those they had lost.
Lifting lockdown
The strictest public health measures were eased from late May, and the spread of the virus was suppressed.
The number of deaths from Covid-19 in Ireland also started to decrease rapidly as a result. No more than nine deaths were recorded across the whole of August.
But even during that month cases were increasing again - reaching a record high on 18 October when 1,283 cases were reported.
The number of deaths initially remained low, and additional ‘lockdown’ measures introduced in recent months have been credited by health officials with keeping enough capacity in the health system to successfully treat severe cases.
HSE Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry said the decreased mortality rate in Ireland matches similar patterns observed across Europe.
In March and April, when Ireland’s testing and tracing programme was only beginning, the positivity rate of people coming forward for tests was 25% whereas it currently stands at 4%, said Dr Henry.
In other words, the virus was far more widespread at that time.
“In addition, there was a bias towards testing older people,” Dr Henry told TheJournal.ie. As the health system mobilised to add capacity in the early days and weeks of the pandemic, tests could only be provided to those in vulnerable groups who were also showing symptoms of the disease.
As the HSE raced to stem the spread of Covid-19, nursing homes were particularly vulnerable, resulting in the deaths of many older people across Ireland.
The elderly and those with underlying health conditions are more vulnerable to the virus than most. Data released by the Central Statistics Office in May showed that almost 92% of confirmed Covid-19 deaths occurred in people aged over 65.
“The other thing now is that older people are protecting themselves more and they’ll probably be protected more too,” said Dr Henry.
In addition, improved treatments such as antiviral and anti-inflammatory drugs have been increasingly used to treat people, including the elderly, who contract Covid-19.
Daily figures
The daily number of deaths from Covid-19 announced each day during the pandemic does not mean the deaths occurred on that particular day.
There is often a lag in confirming mortality as a result of the virus. In the early days of Covid-19, public health officials urged family members to report their loved ones deaths as early as possible so that health services could better understand the effects of the virus and gain a more accurate picture of mortality.
Members of NPHET have sounded warnings in recent days as the number of cases and mortality rates have increased.
There were 36 deaths from Covid-19 in September and 119 in October. So far this month, 75 people have died from the virus.
“We are concerned the positive trajectory we had has at best stalled and is in fact deteriorating,” Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said earlier this week.
He added that there was only a short time “to turn this around” by focusing on the basic public health messages of social distancing, hand-washing and wearing a face covering.
The Government announced earlier this year that national and local events to commemorate those we have lost during Covid-19 will take place in the near future.
Collaborating with the media, civil society organisations and church groups on the approach and timing, it is expected these events will take place at some point next year.
Of the cases notified today;
As of 2pm today 282 patients were in hospital, of which 33 are in intensive care units. Health officials also said there have been 22 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
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- 33 confirmed cases in ICU
- 1 admission to ICU in the last 24hrs
- 2 discharges from ICU in the last 24hrs
- 274 confirmed cases in hospital
- 13 admissions to hospital in the last 24hrs
- 16 discharges from hospital in the last 24hrs
- positivity rate is 3.8%, 77292 tests carried out in the last 7 days .
Covid data hub stats
https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/hospitals-icu%2d%2dtesting
@Anna Anna: Covid Recovery – the alternative to NPHET – have an interview up on their YouTube channel. George Hook talks to Dr Vincent Carroll (GP and Public Health doctor) about the current lack of healthy debate in medicine in the approach to Covid
https://youtu.be/l3XYtzvRpk0
@Anna Anna: anything involving hook will be a ball of #hite.
@Anna Anna: Dr Vincent Carroll, GP and member of the British medical Acupuncture Association.
“Dr Vincent Carroll began practising acupuncture more than 20 years ago after training with the British Medical Acupuncture Society.”
@David Jordan: does Professor Lambert practice acupuncture too? ;)
@Anna Anna: George Hook! So credible. Hil-air.
@David Jordan: here’s a better bio from the examiner last year. Gp, public health doctor and chair of ARC cancer support centres. He is trained in Western medicine and also Chinese medicine. Do you have something against acupuncture David?
https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30906229.html
@David Jordan: Holahan gp for 5 years and from then in clerical, Ronan Glynn physio/public medicine and then in clerical, Nolan president of maynooth last 11 years and basically in admin most of his career. What’s your point David apart from picking bones???? Is there to be no public discourse ???
@Anna Anna: case numbers possibly stabilising again
@Faded79: NPHET members:
Dr Tony Holohan (Chair) Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health (DOH
Prof Colm Bergin – Consultant Infectious Diseases, St. James’s Hospital and Professor of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin
Mr Paul Bolger – Director, Resources Division, DOH
Dr Eibhlin Connolly – Deputy Chief Medical Officer, DOH
Ms Tracey Conroy – A/Sec, Acute Hospitals Division, DOH
Dr John Cuddihy – Interim Director, Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC)
Dr Cillian de Gascun – Director, National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL), UCD, Consultant Virologist
Mr Colm Desmond – A/Sec, Corporate Legislation, Mental Health, Drugs Policy and Food Safety Division, DOH
Dr Lorraine Doherty – National Clinical Director for Health Protection, HPSC, HSE
Dr Mary Favier – President Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP)
Dr Ronan Glynn – Deputy Chief Medical Officer, DOH
Mr Fergal Goodman – A/Sec, Primary Care Division, DOH
Dr Colm Henry – Chief Clinical Officer, HSE
Dr Kevin Kelleher – Asst. National Director, Public Health, HSE
Ms Marita Kinsella – Director, National Patient Safety Office, DOH
Mr David Leach – Deputy National Director of Communications, HSE
Dr Kathleen Mac Lellan – A/Sec, Social Care Division, DOH
Dr Jeanette Mc Callion – Medical Assessor, Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA)
Mr Tom McGuinness – Asst. National Director, Office of Emergency Planning, HSE
Dr Siobhán Ní Bhrian – Lead for Integrated Care, HSE Prof Philip Nolan President, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Ms Kate O’Flaherty – Head of Health and Wellbeing, DOH
Dr Darina O’Flanagan – Special Advisor to the NPHET, DOH
Dr Siobhan O’Sullivan – Chief Bioethics Officer, DOH
Dr Michael Power – National Clinical Lead, Critical Care Programme, HSE Consultant in Anaesthetics / Intensive Care Medicine, Beaumont Hospital
Mr Phelim Quinn – Chief Executive Officer, HIQA
Dr Máirín Ryan – Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Health Technology Assessment, HIQA
Dr Alan Smith – Deputy Chief Medical Officer, DOH
Dr Breda Smyth – Director of Public Health Medicine, HSE
Mr David Walsh – National Director, Community Operations, HSE
Ms Deirdre Watters – Head of Communications, DOH
Mr Liam Woods – National Director, Acute Operations, HSE
@David Jordan: So apart from Prof Bergin – they are all:
a) administrators not practitioners
b) career civil servants
Is that it?
@David Jordan: very nice of you to tell us about all this illuminated heads but unfortunately all they had to show for that is lockdown. …what a waste….
@Anna Anna: how is Sweden doing Anna?
@ForrestG45: very well compared to most other European countries. Their 14 day incidence rate is 556.5 and their 14 cumulative death rate is 1.7.
They are now limiting gatherings to 8 people yet they continue to allow their businesses to remain open. Sensible restrictions, unlike here unfortunately
@Danny Ella: What a waste of what? How would you have done things differently? Please do tell us.
@Anna Anna: to hell with them all … I have missed George since the politically correct powers that be ousted him!
@Anna Anna:
@Anna Anna: Anna, how many people have died of Covid after been incubated in ICU to date?
@David Jordan: you miss my point, you had to call out experience, anyone can do that. Relax yourself. I do t care about who has what letters. I care about the wider debate
@Anna Anna: Yeah he whined a fair bit and duly offered no alternative. The second guy seemed to support lockdown but felt maybe we were a little hasty with the level 5. Is this all Hook’s got just to get a bit of exposure? Sad really.
@David Jordan: All bought and sold by the pharmaceutical firms
@Anna Anna: “14 cumulative death rate is 1.7″
This is very misleading.
There is a 10 day lag in reporting deaths in Sweden, as they report the day when the person dies, not when they were notified of a death (as we do). It takes 10 days to report 90% of deaths (10% of deaths are still not reported after 10 days).
Why do COVID-19 deaths in Sweden always appear to decrease in the last 10 days? https://ourworldindata.org/covid-sweden-death-reporting
This gives a false impression that deaths in Sweden are falling for the last 10 days, as most deaths are not yet reported. Thus the misleadingly low death rate for the last 14 days.
However, just over a week ago…
Sweden had 33 and 30 deaths on Nov 9th and Nov 10th, with daily deaths previously doubling approx. every 7 to 10 days (Sweden’s population is 10.23 million, so 2.09 times our population)
Their 33 to 30 deaths is equivalent to us having 16 to 14 deaths per day.
If their trend continued till today, and there is no reason to think it did not as infections continued to rise, daily deaths are now around 60 a day (equivalent to us having 29 deaths a day).
Sweden is certainly doing worse than us.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=sweden+covid
@David Jordan: stats are all here David. You can hardly talk about misleading comments when you try to label a GP and public health doctor as nothing more than an acupuncturist
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea
@ForrestG45: “Sweden, having refused to lock down, is now bringing in tougher COVID-19 restrictions as cases and deaths soar. ‘This is the new norm,’ the prime minister said.”
“The latest figures show Sweden is experiencing higher levels of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths than its neighbors, relative to its population size.”
@Conor Kiely: Yep.. his usual tactic of trying to muddy the water after getting caught out.
@David Jordan: from the Financial Times 2 days ago:
Sweden’s cases per capita are currently 10 times higher than Finland and four times higher than Norway. Last week, the rate at which people were being admitted into hospital was growing faster in Sweden than any other European country. And after several months of relatively low numbers of deaths, Sweden reported more than 100 in three days last week.
@Anna Anna: Sweden announced 96 deaths today, now they will be added to previous days totals, as they report the day a death occurred not the day of notification.
“On Wednesday, Sweden reported 96 deaths due to Covid-19, and fatalities are now at a level not seen in the country since June.”
And from the link you provided, Sweden has a higher total death toll than us (60 deaths per 100,000 v’s 40 deaths per 100,000 for us) and over the last 14 days they had nearly 4.8 times our infection rate (556.5 per 100,000 v’s 115 per 100,000).
And while their reported 14 day death rate is artificially low, 1.7, due to the previously mentioned reporting delay, it is still higher than us as well (we’re 1.4).
So they are worse than us in every measure.
“Sweden Warns of Covid Hit to Economy After ‘Unprecedented’ Curbs”
@Anna Anna: I commend your outstanding perseverance in “keeping them honest” as Anderson Cooper would say,
Bravo Anna, I am outside my house clapping for you and banging an old pot on the gate pillar
Bravo!
@David Jordan: Around 100,000 People Die in Sweden Every year.
There are no real excess deaths for this time of year?
@ForrestG45: it’s incredible that some people still think that Sweden’s, vulnerable are expendable in the search for unobtainable herd immunity, approach is actually preferable over spread containment. The figures speak for themselves. Sweden’s maverick experiment has been a disaster.
@Seneca: “There are no real excess deaths for this time of year?”
Here’s Sweden’s excess deaths, compared to their neighbours:
Only Sweden had a clear increase in excess deaths this year, Denmark, Norway and Finland did not have much of an increase. 4
Their death rates are 6 to 11 fold lower than Sweden. Also, their lockdowns, in April-May, were not much more stringent than Sweden’s voluntarily mitigation strategies (limiting size of social gatherings, work from home, limiting travel during the Summer). Shows that just a little more could have made a large difference.
And if trends continue in Sweden, their excess deaths will increase again. It not showing up yet, as this increase only started a month ago and there’s a considerable reporting delay.
@David Jordan: Sweden is currently negative rates of excess deaths, very clear after their significant spike in April there’s no current excess deaths>
https://www.euromomo.eu/graphs-and-maps
Lockdowns have had their day
Society is rejecting them rightly or wrongly
We need to get smarter
@Luke: I’m not sure why you seem pessimistic, the number of infections continues to slowly fall. Positivity rate has also decreased. The number of discharged from hospital and ICU exceeds admissions.
Perhaps is is the deaths, it should be pointed out that the people whose deaths were announced today likely caught the virus up to a 2 to 3 weeks ago (take into account the incubation period and lenght of illness) when the infection rate were much higher. Deaths always lag infections by several weeks, so we will start to see deaths decrease shortly.
@David Jordan: Almost all of the decline was related to level 3+
If you take Phillip nolan at his word he said 3 weeks to see the effect of Lvl 5
It was at that exact mark where the case decline halted
We went from a fine balance to just sending people over the edge and flipping the bird at NPHET and co
And no the deaths aren’t really relevent to the current situation as there’s a significant lag there
@Luke: Agreed Luke and the scientific analysis of lockdowns show they clearly they cause more harm than good
Very interesting interview with Pathologist Dr Clare Craig
She talks about the huge question marks over the PCR tests and compares them to the new Lateral Flow tests being rolled out in Liverpool, initial results showing very few with Covid using the new test. Might explain why all cause mortality continues to be normal
@Seamus Hughes: I don’t want to pour skepticism on PCR tests or attempt to adjudicate on such specifics that Im not qualified to talk about but I know enough about data trends and statistics to see Phillip nolan has misjudged level 5
I’d love to see alternative tests given a fair chance to see if we pick up the virus more accurately with those however
@Seamus Hughes: Cillian de Gascun confirmed on twitter in September that our cycle threshold for the PCR is 35-45. Anything more than 33/34 is advised against. Cillian did admit that the manufacturer of the test decides the CT and that if we developed our own in-house test kit the CT could be reevaluated
@Anna Anna: And yet we still have one of Europe’s lowest positivity rates
@Luke: I’m not sure that is entirely the case. There were outbreaks in hospitals in Limerick and Donegal that spread out into the community. We can’t exclude schools
@Seamus Hughes: The lockdown absolutely did not cause more harm than good in Ireland. We have the data that backs that up.
Due to the Spring lockdown we limited the spread of the virus to just under 2% of the population by July, an absolutely monumental achievement. By that time, 1,600 had died out of approx. 83,300 infections (a fatality rate of ca. 2%).
https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/newsfeatures/scopi-covid-19-antibody-research-study-results/
Imagine if 20% had caught the virus, which happened in some other badly affected countries.
It’s a pity that people are understandably are loosing patients when are months away from receiving the first limited supplies of vaccine that will begin to protect the vulnerable members of our society and medical workers.
@Critical Thinker: probably a combination of all
But the wording from NPHET is that of blame to the average Joe
If schools and hospitals are to blame then the tone needs to change as it really rubs people up wrong
@David Jordan: the fatality rate in the first part of the lockdown is Laughable in terms of credibility
Cross check the then positivity rate (25%) the current positivity rate (4%) we can assume the virus was over 5 times more prevalent
The fatality rate was likely close to 0.4%
@Luke: we could get smarter by observing the health guidelines such as social distancing, washing hands and wearing a mask. If people acted responsibly there would be no need for lockdowns.
@Seamus Hughes: “Might explain why all cause mortality continues to be normal”
Wrong (I think you’re referring to the UK, since you’re taking about Liverpool).
1. All cause mortality (also called Excess Deaths) in the UK has risen above average again.
“England and Wales have seen a fourth successive week of increasing excess death figures as the countries battle through the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Continuous Mortality Investigation’s (CMI) mortality monitor shows a 600-figure week-on-week increase in the number of deaths with Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate for week 45 of 2020.”
“Fourth consecutive week of increasing excess deaths”
https://www.professionalpensions.com/news/4023590/cmi-fourth-consecutive-increasing-excess-deaths
As for Ireland, yes, our all cause mortality rose by about 1000 dearths above the 5 year average. It was not “Normal”. Also, I really don’t understand why people think that keeping out all cause death rate normal or low is a failure? Can you please explain that.
2. Antigen tests are less sensitive that RT-PCR tests and miss about 30% of symptomatic infections ore more, and may miss even more asymptomatic infections (the US CDC does not approve their use for screening asymptomatic cases). This is both a weakness of the tests themselves but also because people generally test themselves, rather than trained staff, so make mistakes when sampling.
You recall that Elon Musk tested himself 4 times using a rapid antigen test, the result was 2 negatives and 2 positives. Also the White House ended up with 12 infections after the Rose Garden event, despite using Rapid tests daily.
That said, there may be some situations were Rapid antigen tests may be useful e.g. repeatedly testing medical workers, who know how to use them and will use them properly. Even if they work half the time, that could reduce hospitals infection.
More about Rapid Tests:
The Challenges of Expanding Rapid Tests to Curb COVID-19 – Rita Rubin, MA
@Luke: 2000 dead is FAKE news.
The CSO published the data only two weeks ago at 1100 excess mortality for 2020 over 2019.
Disgraceful carryon
@Luke: “Cross check the then positivity rate (25%) the current positivity rate (4%) we can assume the virus was over 5 times more prevalent The fatality rate was likely close to 0.4%”
I am sorry, you don’t understand. SCOPI was an antibody study, it tested for antibodies (IgG IgM) in blood samples from randomly selected volunteers. It was thus able to detect previously undiagnosed cases e.g. asymptomatic and mild infections that were not originally diagnosed.
How can people profess how we should approach this pandemic, if they do not understand the basic facts and data at hand?
They tested blood samples using the Abbott Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test. Here’s the US FDA’s validation of the test:
https://www.fda.gov/media/137383/download
And the UK’s:
It is a very reliable test.
That said, it is likely that the Infection Fatality Rate has decreased since Spring-Early Summer, we have improved medical care of COVID-19 patients.
The UK estimates their IFR had decreased from about 1.1% to 0.68%.
However, its important to remember that the lowered IFR depends on hospitals not getting overwhelmed by a tsunami of COVID-19. That would not take a tall tsunami in Ireland, as we have limited ICU capacity.
That happened in Peru where hospitals were poor to stat with and were overwhelmed, as as a result, 30% of deaths involve people younger than 60 years, people (or Boris Johnson’s age, remember he needed oxygen) whose lives could have been saved with proper medical care.
And you can read more about the Abbott Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test. here:
Hamilton, F., Muir, P., Attwood, M., Vipond, A.N.B. and Hopes, R., 2020. Kinetics and performance of the Abbott architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody assay. The Journal of Infection.
@Vladimir Macro: 2000 deaths is not fake news.
You might be right that it could only be 1100 excess, keyword being excess but that does not imply 900 were not COVID, it just means 900 were redistributed from other channels. There are some issues with overestimation but it doesn’t imply fake news either, just the statistical models need improving.
Right now excess mortality is focused on deaths alone, and usually factors in stats from rip.ie. You’d need to compare all the causes of death from the last couple of years and compare them individually. You’ll then be able to identify other areas where deaths may have reduced.
When national behaviour changes dramatically, expect the causes of death to change too. Some will may go up (COVID), some maygo down (Flu).
@Teresa O’Halloran: Teresa you cannot expect natural human instinct to be suppressed for that long it’s just not a reasonable assumption without totalitarian style enforcement. If that’s the path you want to follow fair enough many advocate for the Australia method I however would rather take my chances than be utterly miserable for the next 5 months when there is a vaccine inbound
@David Jordan: I am familiar with the study I do follow things quite closely . Of course my calculation is a little brash and doesn’t dive into the specific data however the detection of antibodies is based off of information which we simply do not have and will not have for months and years to come. How long do antibodies last? When was the true first infection in Ireland? Does the duration of measurable antibody levels in an assymptomatic case differ from that of a symptomatic one given the more active immune response ? Yes the test is accurate in what it measures however how we interpret that data could change drastically based on the immune response of the body to Sars-Cov-2
The data is there
The interpretation is open to debate
@Luke: cause it’s a wishy washy lockdown. Dublin parks on weekends, hundreds of kids doing sports training with all the parents standing around, on weekdays it’s not much better. People all over the city centre drinking. Parents standing outside schools talking while all the kids play. Teenagers hitting parks every weekend. Just closing shops and pubs does not stop a pandemic. It’s not that easy.
Jesús id love for them to just stop reporting on corona, it’s incessant. Surely makes people even more depressed just seeing it everywhere. Saw IT got an award for corona reporting ? How grim is that
@Côte D’oherty: did you know you don’t have to read covid related articles if you don’t want to.
@barry moore: madness the amount of people day in day out, stop reporting this, stop reporting that. How about dont feckin read it if its upsetting you! Its really not difficult.
@barry moore: That’s a cliche. You dont have to watch it or read it to speculate that it might be affecting people negatively.
@Louis Jacob: its personal choice. if the sun was in your eyes would you expect someone else to stop it?
@barry moore: I actually dont know where to start with that analogy. All I’m saying is that this 24 hour incessant COVID news is probs ly not good for people’s heads. Nothing more.
@barry moore: ah I know, but I get notifications from the journal daily
@Côte D’oherty: i’m ready to jump in the Liffey…. give me Brexit or a Plane crash or something 9/11 a nuclear disaster …….anything else
@Seneca: call samaritans: 116123 free from any phone. Help is available for anyone who needs it. Day or Night
@Côte D’oherty: I didn’t even know the journal had notifications, Er, turn them off?
This “lockdown ” isn’t working is it?
@Brian Dunne: something isn’t working either nphets advice or implementation of their advice?
@Richard Doherty: gonna go with the latter
@Richard Doherty: Actually both, the NPHET has to find suitable solutions. The government can fine and punish if they like but people would still not adhere to it if they are exhausted.
Our level 3+ in winter is similar to a lockdown in another country.
They should recommend what’s doable 8 months in.
@Vanessa: What do you recommend?
@Brian Dunne: It’s not. The data now is very firmly stacked against the efficacy of lockdowns. Dr Jay Bhattacharya, one of the strongest commentators on Covid to date, explains here https://youtu.be/vPj5yYAgee8
@JusticeForJoe: The only thing what I would recommend is to investigate what is causing the cases and terminate the issue. If it’s a certain sector try to close it or work on a solution for that sector. If the public is less likely to adhere to level 5 as they were before, then go back to level 3.
They have the data and are the specialists.
However, going from lockdown to lockdown doesn’t seem to work.
@Vanessa: what’s your definition of the word work? If the hospitals aren’t overwhelmed, the lockdown is working.
@Brian Dunne: cause it’s a wishy washy lockdown. Dublin parks on weekends, hundreds of kids doing sports training with all the parents standing around, on weekdays it’s not much better. People all over the city centre drinking. Parents standing outside schools talking while all the kids play. Teenagers hitting parks every weekend. Just closing shops and pubs does not stop a pandemic. It’s not that easy.
@Evan: If another set of restrictions is causing better numbers that set of restrictions works better.
Aren’t you surprised that numbers are are higher than expected or at least curious?
@Vanessa: no not really. Just because we are not down to their 100 a day which was always unrealistic given the amount of places still open it doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a significant drop in numbers and lowering of the positivity rate. We were at 1000 plus cases a day a few weeks ago remember. The deaths now are a result of that. Hopefully they will begin to drop off similarly if we can get to the mid to low 300 mark.
RIp
I’m sure the anti-maskers/lockdown are very happy. The people who constantly rejected the various restrictions have ensured that we stayed in this situation and more people died that didn’t need to.
@Andrew Keane: Do you really think that this tiny segment of the population is responsible for ALL of this? Could it be more likely that much of this has been caused by the cumulative slippages and missteps taken by members of society, be it attending a wake or a 30th birthday party or maybe even going to work as a nurse.
@Andrew Keane: While you’re dishing out the blame from your high horse, maybe throw some in the direction of Nphet for the whole nursing home debacle. Hundreds we’re talking here.
@Andrew Keane: good man Andrew blame a few people who didn’t wear masks for 2k deaths, the lockdowns happened regardless of people opinion of them, this article was always going to bring out the melodramatics
@Andrew Keane: Go into town and Friday night. The anti mask/lockdown people you talk about arent conspiracy theorists. They are young people, basically immune, who couldn’t care less anymore. Like a lot of people.
@Andrew Keane: well said.
@Andrew Keane: I think the bulk of reported deaths were on the first 2 months when both NPHET and WHO advised that there was no proven benefit in wearing masks despite the fact that countries who were having success generally wore masks. It wasn’t till mid June that the advice started to tend towards wearing masks. The initial advice was probably to prevent a run on an item that was in short supply for medical staff. Unfortunately this tendency to change direction on advice has affected the overall message.
@Andrew Keane: it’s unlikely any of the anti maskers went to nursing homes.
@Lee Galiezitte: isn’t that the problem then, “COULDN’T CARE LESS “That’s why we are where we are
@Andrew Keane: we werent wearing masks when the deaths were highest…. whose advice was that again ?
I thought that said 2000 new cases for a second
@Kevin McNally: I also did and went into a fit of despair for a few seconds. Bit cynical.
@Evan: I didnt read in properly on first glance. Apologies, writer.
@Kevin McNally: The important thing is that NPHET made a big deal of this meaningless number in the press conference to stoke up just a little more fear.
@Toon Army: yeah 2000 dead. Completely meaningless.
@SJF: well, it is meaningless. It’s a random number. Elevating a figure of 2,000 to such an extent, just because it’s got a nice and easy 000 at the end, actually undermines the seriousness and devastation of what will inevitably be the 2001st person to die. 2,000 dying should not be viewed as any more or less devastating than 1,999 or 2,001.
So the drop in daily cases stalled. The big change was schools reopened and we see the spread is in households. Nephet would want to be certain that schools are not involved in the spread. What information do we have about the household cases and is it due to breaches of level5 or schools?
The children from schools is bringing it back to the household.
Stemming from the Adults in the households giving it to the kids who bring it to the schools!
RIP to all the deceased and deepest sympathy to their families if ever we needed to take this seriously these figures should jolt us all and everyone needs to stick to the rules to get on top of this awful virus
@Eugene McDonough: quite right sir but the open the pubs crowd are too thick and selfish to realize that behind the 2000 stat that there is actually a grieving family. RIP
People have stopped caring. Obviously this is the Government’s fault. Open the pubs or else I’ll throw a house party!
@KSham: With a Taoiseach who travels and isn’t wearing masks on his promo photos as their leader, they are giving themselves a hard time winning those people back
@Vanessa: and an opposition who went to a grave yard for a photo shoot
@james foley: The opposition isn’t leading the country. However, I agree with you if you add the golfing media representatives, judges and co to the government and the opposition.
Those kind of people who wants to convince us to adhere to restrictions are horrible examples themselves.
RIP to all 2000 souls
Just watching George Lee reporting on Six One news, he says Level 5 has stalled and Nphet are not happy about it, tomorrow’s weekly Nphet meeting will be very interesting he says. The target of under 100 cases a day by December 1st has gone out the window.
@Sean Walsh: Will be likely harsher restrictions with a 4 weeks extension
@Winston Smith: They know that they will lose the public if they do.
@Winston Smith: No chance. The will lose the public buy in, cases will start to rise thus making a mockery of any restrictions.
@Vanessa: absolutely people can only endure so much
@Sean Walsh: why would anybody pay attention to George GRIM REAPER LEE FFS….The environment correspondent i see driving around is 5 series BMW on a couple hundred grand a year pontificating and fear mongering since March and ALWAYS spins the numbers looking for ‘effect’ – heres a thought – we had over a thousand cases a day and got that down to under 400 a day in 3 weeks – so all this doom an dgloom is ignoring the speed that all these measures R0 , ICU etc have fallen – we are no where NEAR facing a capacity issue in ICU – not even close – the deaths are a fraction of the first wave and we didn;t even need any of the capacity we had on standby then – how come other countries like Portugal are just implementing strick masks and practice distance and can live a pretty normal life – and they dont even have the benefit of being an island not attahed to mainland europe – George Lee should ask the hearder questions – can we please see a more detailed analysis of the deaths too – 11 people died WITH Covid – what was the median age – ( i understand it has been 84 ) and how many had underlying conditions that may have actually been the cause of death – not. Covid – and finally why is he not asking about the shambolic management of HSE hospitals where staff are ony being test every 2 weeks – i mean FFS a child could tell you thats nonsense for people working in hospital setting and possibly spreading covid for 8-9 days wairing for next test – this is shambolic stuff at a time they are happy to ramp up the anxiety -finger wagging and threat of no being able to enjoy xmas. Some perspective please – although i wont hold my breath expecting it from Pravda like Covid coverage at RTE or George Lee to be honest
RIP to all who passed. Why can’t the number of deaths be presented factually, without having to highlight an arbitrary landmark that is the next thousand? What is the point here?
@EnKy: was thinking the same,, they could have put it a couple of paragraphs down,, and not in the headline,,,
@EnKy: sensationalism
Didn’t they predict 120k deaths by this time? Zzzzzzzz. Only 118k out. What will everyone do when the vaccine comes eh? What will ye be afraid of then? Oh yeah.. the vaccine itself.
@**CAPTAIN MOUSTACHE AND HIS MAGIC FLUTE: I think it’s past your bedtime.
@**CAPTAIN MOUSTACHE AND HIS MAGIC FLUTE: that prediction was made a) when we had a lesser understanding of the virus (great thing about science – scientists are not afraid of change as new information is presented) and b) predicated on society doing nothing to halt the spread of the virus. We now know more about the virus and we have had two lockdowns and varying degrees of restrictions since that “prediction” was made. Oh, and it wasn’t a prediction. It was very much a back-of-the-envelope musing by one person. Now, off with you and play with your flute.
Have those 2000 people died exclusively from COVID? That’s an awful high amount long may this lockdown continue until such time as a vaccine becomes mandatory.
@Really Nice Guy: h
@Really Nice Guy: So you’re ok with a lockdown for another 9-12 months? Wake up.
@Really Nice Guy: No the did not all die of Covid if you are in hospital dying of another illness and have Covid it is put down as a Covid death even though you didn’t die from it ,this is well known fact and was also acknowledged by the HSE.
@Tommy: osh STFU .
@Dixieblue: He’s correct. And there have been articles on this very site confirming it.
@Really Nice Guy: go away troll
@Dixieblue: Don’t let the things that scare you overtake your ability to accept the truth.
@Really Nice Guy: 2k is not high 8 months in. 95% of which died a year or two earlier then they would have anyway. They predicted 120k deaths by this stage. Cleaning out people of all ages.. Although I’m sure they all wish that was the case. As would lots on here who love this whole virus business as it gives them something to justify the fear they have felt every day of their lives.
@Really Nice Guy: You must be joking,
@Really Nice Guy: how many young people passed away this year . A vaxene developed in 3 months. Why dont you take vaxene for all of us.
This must be the lagging mortality rate from the weeks when we had near 1300 cases per day
@David Lee: They have more knowledge on how to tackle the hard cases. They just need the capacity for that.
OPEN PENNYS. I NEED JOCKS AND SOCKS FOR PRESENTS
@Barry Larkin: head north
@ed w: can’t leave my county. Plz heed if ur not
Why are the HSE testing 30,000 less people per week than they were a few weeks ago ?
@Michael Waldron: because less people ring looking for a test and because the number of contacts of a confirmed case has dropped. You would imagine they should be using the spare capacity to increase serial testing in nursing homes ect.
@NotMyIreland: exactly .. can’t see any reason why they can’t keep up testing around 110,000 per week which they have the capacity to do so.
@Michael Waldron: Because there aren’t that many people presenting with symptoms or who are close contacts of confirmed cases. You can’t force people to have tests without any reason.
12 confirmed deaths, ICU numbers constant, so where are they dying
@William Bryan: Nursing homes?
@Mairead Jenkins: It is interesting how those stats aren’t published. They’re highly relevant. During the actual pandemic 95% of all deaths weren’t even afforded ICU. Wonder has this changed much.
“MORE THAN 2,000 people in Ireland have now died after being diagnosed with Covid-19.” – might need to fact check yourself on this one there Journal…
@James Mac An Ridire: no chance of that, they were beging for government money not long ago
A good time to hand out huge fines.
I don’t believe these figures for one minute. NPHED no longer credible imo
@evalina montina: Thanks for that
How about open the doctors surgeries it’s almost impossible to see a GP at the moment phone consultations are useless
7 cases and 1 death denotified
Sympathy to all families love one rip
“MORE THAN 2,000 people in Ireland have now died after being diagnosed with Covid-19.” – might need to fact check yourself on this one there Journal…
Which way will the comments section break? To the Covid deniers or the Covid zealots?
Firstly, RIP to the 2000+ souls.
Can anyone provide me with how many fatalities have there been to date regarding people who were admitted to ICU’s with Covid Has anyone got this figure please?
@Paul Tennant: hspc.ie all info in reports
“MORE THAN 2,000 people in Ireland have now died after being diagnosed with Covid-19.” – might need to fact check yourself on this one there Journal…
RIP https://youtu.be/xV0BcEfDz5M lockdown anthem day 28, 12 days left hopefully.
@Twitruser2020: What A Tune!!
@Twitruser2020: You made up for yesterday’s horrible tune choice
@Twitruser2020: Tune. But I reckon you’ll be still here dragging the bottom of the barrel looking for anthems to post this date next month the way this is going.
@Alan Byrne: who verifies these figures?? No one is actually holding NPHED seriously to account. People just wearing the muzzles while absorbing any old story from them. Wake up people
More people dying ‘with the virus’.
Open the golf courses.
Is this supposed to be a “lockdown” lads? Only in Ireland is it like this!
Sick and tired of this.. RIP the lost souls,
@Pauline Gallagher: someone.. apparently… you should get a job as a journalist.
@Alan Biddulph: Oh just read the comment for yourself it was in yesterdays cases ok??
Normally.. It’s Covid 19 that I’m interested in but seeing what K evin C r aven has done really brings them home to me. The devil should be hung, drawn and quarted.
It’s great to see cases have reduced over the past few weeks but we’re never going to reach the target of 50-100 cases a day with the current restrictions in place. A “lockdown” isn’t a “lockdown” unless everything is locked down. I think the past few weeks have been wasted at the expense of peoples’ jobs and livelihoods. People were going to be out of work under level 5 regardless, so it only makes sense to keep students at home as well.
Rip
Dublin number is 84 for today.
have your say