‘We cannot afford to drop our guard’ – CMO’s warning after a record 93 coronavirus deaths
There’s been a very slight decrease in Covid-19 hospitalisations.
But experts are warning we’re far from out of the woods, with 2,001 confirmed new cases of coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours (204 in Cork), alongside a record 93 deaths from the virus.
Of the deaths reported in the highest daily Irish toll so far, three occurred in December and 89 occurred in January. There is one case where the date of death is still under investigation.
The median age of those who died was 82 years and the age range was 41-99 years. There are no newly reported deaths in healthcare workers or in a young person under the age of 30.
Around 2,000 patients are currently hospitalised with Covid-19, of which 202 are in ICU. There have been 100 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
“We cannot afford to drop our guard against the very high levels of infection that remain in the community at present,” said Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health.
“Covid-19 ICU and hospitalisation numbers are of critical concern to us, representing a very significant pressure on our healthcare workers and on the provision of acute medical and surgical non-COVID care. We need everyone to stay at home, other than for essential reasons.
“The more that each individual follows this advice in their everyday lives, the more we can drive down the spread of COVID-19 and minimise the impact on vital healthcare services, patients and frontline workers.”
‘If anyone dismisses this virus to you, take no heed.’
Meanwhile, HSE boss Paul Reid urged his Twitter followers to ignore Covid ‘deniers’ and focus instead on the number of patients requiring hospital care.
“Our teams are under unrelenting strain in hospitals & communities.” Mr Reid tweeted.
“Almost 2,000 patients in hospital, 400 receiving higher levels of care (200 ICU). If anyone dismisses this virus to you, take no heed. It’s nonsense & insulting to patients, families & frontline staff.”
