The latest data show that several key indicators related to the expansion of Kovid-19 has declined in the coming days.
The proportion of people who test positive has decreased, as has the number of close contacts with one person – a key indicator of disease transmission in the community.
The number of patients at the hospital on Sunday was 295, down from 312 on Saturday and 324 on Wednesday. There are currently 38 Kovid-19 patients in intensive care, a total of one on Saturday.
HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid on Sunday morning reduced the positivity rate of the eight-day test. It was 6.2 per cent on Saturday compared to the previous seven days.
Raid commented that the number of close contacts had dropped.
“Most close relationships are family. Still very early but good. We are all part of the solution. It can continue, ”he said on Twitter.
More than a thousand new cases have been reported in one day in 10 days this month, but in the last two days the number is below this level.
The community transmission rate has remained stable at 28% since the beginning of the month.
Indicators
While officials are wary of reading too much into the ODI figures, improvements in several indicators point to confirming the situation.
Tennis leo Varadkar told the RTE this week that the Level 3 restrictions imposed in early October were “beginning to take effect” in the early days.
“We see the number of cases leveling and the rate of positivity declining. However this is the first day, we have not yet seen what the outcome of the Level 5 steps will be and we will never know until November. ”
Across Europe, the number of new cases has dropped to record lows in recent days.
In Ireland, Cavan continues to be the most affected country, with 981.9 people per lakh in 14 days, followed by Meath and 652.7 people.
Varadkar said the government was “more optimistic” that those at higher risk from Kovid-19 could be vaccinated “in the first quarter, if not the first quarter of next year.”
He said he was confident Ireland could move to “Level 3, a little” in December. “But at the same time, we don’t have to be complacent.”
The government’s strategy is to “slow down the virus until the vaccine is available.” Varadkar said it was not necessary for Ireland to return to the fifth tier in the new year.
Detects crash
At the same time, Raid said the vast majority of the nearly 2,000 confirmed Kovid-19 cases reported only domestic contacts when asked to find contact on their own last weekend.
The HSE’s contract detection system collapsed last week due to a rapid surge in cases and a lack of staff to handle them. As a result, thousands of people who tested positive for the virus were asked to ring their own contacts to block the backlog of contact tracing calls.
Raid said the agency has been reaching out to positive cases over the past week to see how the contact tracing calls were completed.
“In connection with those 2,000 people last weekend, we started calling them this weekend, both yesterday and today, to assess how their contacts gained over the past week,” Reid told Newstock’s On the Record.
“The feedback we get from that is a positive take off. The vast majority of their contacts are domestic workers, so if anyone has a positive case, we hope that household contacts will limit themselves soon.
‘Shouldn’t Have Happened’
Raid admitted that what happened last week “should not have happened to the extent it did.”
It was one of those weekends where I had to make 3,500 calls. In short, we went from 8,000 calls a week to 28,000 calls a week, which ended last weekend, ”he said.
“In short, what was discovered last weekend was an uncontrollable amount in society.”
He added: “What we see is that calls take a long time, twice as long as they take when they start, more calls [SIC]We also make more complex calls. ”
Raid added that he regrets what happened last weekend and that HSE corrected it.
“There are four things we did over the summer. Firstly increase the number of community testing centers and the number of workers recruited for it, secondly we have improved the logistics of converting those swabs into more efficient testing, and thirdly our lab capacity is now 120,000 and we are building more in the coming weeks. Finally the appointment of tracers, ”he said.
Hand sanitizer
When asked about the problem with the Virapro hand sanitizers, which were recalled because the product contained methanol, Reed said it was “obviously” of concern.
They are trying to recall one million hand sanitizers.
“If any VeeraPro products are stored locally, we will notify the entire healthcare system of recall.”
Siptu, the largest trade union in the state, said it was shocking that health care workers and patients were using unsafe hand sanitizers.
It calls for “immediate engagement with HSE to obtain an explanation of the circumstances under which the product was stored and used.”
Our members across the country are deeply concerned about this shocking development. HSE and other health care facilities are dangerous and dangerous. This will be sufficient for patients and patients handling Kovid-19 without any health risks associated with the use of the hand sanitizing product, ”said John King, Deputy General Secretary, Siptu.
This is particularly disturbing given the importance of effective and regular hand washing by public health authorities as an essential step in preventing the spread of the virus.
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