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CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER Dr. Tony Holohan has there are “reasons for optimism” and that the continued vaccination programme may allow the country to remove the Covid-19 restrictions that are still in place.
Holohan said that Ireland’s uptake of Covid-19 vaccines was “among the best in the world” and expressed optimism that this would continue as more age groups are free to register for the vaccine.
As of yesterday, 70.73% of Ireland’s adult population is now fully vaccinated, with a further 9.68% partially vaccinated.
“We have reasons for optimism, obviously we continue to see very high levels of vaccination in all the age cohorts that have come forward for vaccination,” Holohan said.
We’re now making the vaccine available by way of registration for 16 to 18 year olds, and will hopefully in the next number of weeks be in a position to, as the government decided yesterday, offer registration to children between the ages of 12 and 15.
“If we keep pushing on with the kinds of uptake rates we’ve seen in some of the older age groups, which by international standards is among the best in the world, that gives us a lot of reasons for optimism that the conditions we think need to be satisfied to allow us to move away from some of the restrictions that still remain in place could be met.”
Asked what restrictions he was referring to, Holohan said many have been lifted since the end of April but that some restrictions remain in place including the need for Covid Certs to enter hospitality and restrictions on the number of gatherings both indoors and outdoors.
The CMO said all this “will depend” on observations over the coming weeks but that vaccinations are currently preventing “significant numbers of cases and importantly hospitalisations”.
He added:
We really have to continue to work hard as a country to drive up the vaccination rates as high as possible. The higher we go, the better the protection we have and the sooner, frankly, we’ll be out of all of this in terms of the economic and social restrictions that are still in place.
Holohan said that NPHET does not have a target of herd immunity within the population but that it will advise government “in the coming days” about “achievable targets” for vaccination rates.
“We’re optimistic in this country and we as public health officials are optimistic about how high that target can be because we think we can get to a higher target than many other countries,” he said.
‘Peaks and troughs’
Speaking about the trajectory of the virus, NPHET’s head of modelling Professor Philip Nolan said that it is likely there will be “peaks and troughs” of Covid-19 cases over the next few months.
Nolan described the recent trend in cases numbers as “somewhat unusual” after increasing sharply in the middle of July before remaining more steady in the past couple of weeks.
He added that a “pent-up” need to socialise and travel earlier this month may have caused cases to soar but that numbers appear to be settling.
It’s very hard to explain why that is but clearly what’s happened here is that there was a set of things that people were looking forward to doing at the beginning of July, they did some of those things and we had a very significant number of cases in or around 15 July.
Nolan added that it will be some time before health experts can determine the underlying pattern of growth in cases.
“I do think there’s grounds for optimism because it seems to me, quite clearly, that after 18 months or so people are very clearly reading the risk,” he added.
“If our collective behaviour starts to push case numbers up, people collectively become more cautious and that’s why I don’t expect to track any of these huge waves.
“As soon as those waves start, people become more cautious. It’s much more likely that we’ll see increases and decreases in incidence over the coming weeks.
I remain optimistic that collectively we will do our best to keep this under control by adherence to the simple measures. We don’t think we’re going to see a single peak. We think we’re going to see peaks and troughs out into the September and October period, really depending upon how careful we are going about our daily business.
Data produced by NPHET shows the 14-day incidence rate is particularly high in Donegal and Louth.
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said there are five counties that are reporting more than 400 cases over the past seven days, including Dublin, Donegal, Cork, Galway and Louth.
He said that most countries across the EU as well as the UK have seen a stabilisation or improvement in the last week, except Ireland and France. Glynn said the outlook for Ireland looks uncertain for the next few weeks.
Nolan also said there has been an increase in the number of people admitted to hospital.
On average, 26 people are being admitted to hospital per day, which is double what it was two weeks ago.
He added that the number of admissions were fewer than they would expect, given the number of cases in recent weeks. There are fewer than 20 admissions per 1,000 cases.
Nolan also said the length of stay in hospital is shortening which suggests vaccine protection.
“This is at the moment very much disease of younger people, the incidence is dominated by those aged 19 to 24, followed by those aged 13 to 18, but in that age group it’s mostly 16 and 17 year olds, followed by those aged 25 to 34,” he added.
“Most of the cases that we’re seeing are in younger unvaccinated people.
“Even though numbers in hospital and ICU are increasing, they’re increasing far less than they would do if we didn’t have so much of the population protected through vaccination.”
- With reporting by Press Association
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A violent beating seems a reasonable and proportional response
@Cian Nolan: agree totally with you
@Cian Nolan: This is the kind of thing they should bring back the medieval stock for. Have the townsfolk throw rotten veggies at them
@Cian Nolan:
That equally wrong – “violent beating” ????
@JusticeForJoe: That was the next thing I was going to say. Have often said it.
@JusticeForJoe: I prefer the punishment from midnight express
@Cian Nolan: The birch. Then deportation so we don’t have to pay for their incarceration. Is Van Diemans Land still open?
@lelookcoco: no its currently on lockdown because of the plague.
@Míleata Watch Co: Sounds like the perfect place for these vermin
@Tom kenny: Jaysis… when the warden lad brought his two kids in to watch him flog prisoners’ feet, wasn’t it? Or when Billy bit Rifki’s tongue off?
@JusticeForJoe: definitely the feet
I absolutely agree. As a first responder myself, I just cannot fathom how someone could do this and feel okay with themselves. Disgusting behaviour.
@Patrick Corr: That’s noble work. Fair play to ya
@JusticeForJoe: I think there are skills that should be taught in school.
@Patrick Corr: 100% agree, have been saying this for years. If mandatory cpr and first aid skills were brought into schools it would be fantastic!
They could add damage to lifebuoy rings to that list for mandatory sentencing.
@Sean: paragraph 5
Yea, like that’s gonna work. Get real guys, the judges ain’t goin’ to do anything realistic. Let the damage and the thuggery continue. We’ll all pay for it, health-wise and financially and it’ll continue.
@Richard Ahern: it would work if it was mandatory 5years for damaging live saving equipment.
@OConnelj: *life
@Richard Ahern: judges have to give mandatory sentences.
This again, no inaction from Dept of Justice since this started happening 4/5 years ago, what do we have to do? Can the Dept of Justice just legislate for this instead of us chasing them for years, you know, do the job they are charged with?
Just give me a few minutes in a room with whoever done it and they won’t be able to wheel themselves to the next one.
We need a massive investment in teaching miscreants the basics of civil society and if they don’t learn it at primary level maybe national service could do the trick?!
@Niall O’Reilly: it all begins in the home. Responsibility in the home has degraded over the years, for various reasons, which I won’t get into but I agree, zero tolerance for this carry on.
@Niall O’Reilly: A good idea in principle and I would agree. But would you want these people near live ammunition?
@Patrick Corr: some of the best statesmen have developed from problematic beginnings!
@Sean McCarthy: I second this for sure. Are kids even being taught to respect others these days, or themselves for that matter. But it does start in the home. These problems have been years in the making and now we find ourselves chasing down these ‘problems’ having to protect ourselves from them.
@Niall O’Reilly: like Hitler Stalin and Mussolini?
we as a people have got too soft ..
A stolen lifebuoy: a stolen life.
There is no fear of the law by thugs that do this kind of vandalism, that is the problem. ‘A recent bereavement in the family’ is a common excuse for this kind of violent behaviour towards people or public property. An absence of a defibrillator could mean the loss of someone’s life.
The lowest of the low. I can’t use the language I’d like to on here but whoever commits this crime should be dealt with severely.
Do someone for attempted manslaughter and make an example of them.
Take the cost from their welfare.
@Eamon Guilfoyle: the cost of the life?
@Eamon Guilfoyle: How do you know they are on Welfare? They could be a bunch of “rich” kids, returning to their middle class homes at the end of a night on the tiles.
As for sentencing; it’s long past time our Government took on the judiciary and examine sentencing in this country. As it is it’s a sick joke.
Additionally, we need to stop allowing these low lives access to free legal aid countless numbers of times.
But nothing will change untill we succeed in reminding our politicians & the judiciary that they are there to serve our needs. And not theirs. That WE do not pay them exorbitant salaries to massage each others egos.
Simple. Make those responsible stand for 8 hrs a day for a week with a sign saying ” Im the person that damaged this piece of life saving equipment”.
If they got Judge M*rtin Nol*n they would probably get a financial reward instead of prison.
Bring back public flogging. They wouldn’t do it again
I think it would help if there was more education in schools showing the importance of these life saving devices. They probably don’t even realise what they are for, not that that is an excuse. Maybe if they new the importance of them and the fact they could save someone’s life they might just stick to vandalising phone boxes or something else.
@Michael Hanley: Phone boxes? Very 20th century.
May i suggest we place these life saving devices outside Chemists instead of Leisureplexes which would have a high Teenager Base,They might think twice then for obvious reasons.
The punishment should be they get one used on them while there alive
@Ellie Mae: on their ballz
@Hugh Morris: i dont think the little scrotes who do this have any
imagine destruction of life saving equipment. some dirt out there.
definitely some low life council house teenagers mommy’s little angels. I hope the gardai finds them and break them
I think a hefty fine would suffice,might stop the ignorant eejits doing it,as in 600 to 1000 euro for tampering with it,may make them think twice!,it is life saving equipment and there are very few in small villages! As for prison sentence..good luck! 6 months dealt,12 months suspended!! We all know the justice system here!
Why do people try to sell these online is just crazy I came across 5 for sale since the start of January
Unfortunately if mandatory sentences were brought in they would be watered down, special exception, give credit for his past recorded, early plea, difficult background etc so by the time whom ever has damaged commented the offence would get off with a telling off, mandatory sentences only work if there is no loop hole to allow cases to be pleaded down
No need for minimum sentencing.
Just give them an electric induced heart attack and walk away. Tell them if they can find a defibrillator they they are sorted.
Attempted murder should fit the bill I think
Make them do community service in in a busy accident and emergency department in a hospital or ride in the back of an ambulance. Teach them first aid and how important defibrillators are to saving lives. Educate the ignorant.
have your say