A FURTHER 1,205 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, the Department of Health has said this evening.

In a statement, it said that a further three people confirmed to have Covid-19 have died.

The death toll from Covid-19 in Ireland is 1,838, and the total number of cases now stands at 46,429.

Of the cases notified today: 

• 614 are men, 590 are women
• 71% are under the age of 45
• The median age is 34
• 288 cases are in Dublin, 173 are in Cork, 123 are in Meath, 97 are in Galway, 63 are in Cavan and the remaining 461 cases are spread across all remaining counties. 

Public health authorities have frequently warned of a deteriorating situation across the country, and urged people to cut the amount of contacts they have.

“There has been further increases across all key indicators of Covid-19 and the growth rate of this epidemic has accelerated since NPHET last met,” Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said. 

“Cases notified over the past week have increased by 82% compared with the previous seven days, from 3,514 to 6,382 cases,” Dr Holohan said. 

He added that the 14-day incident rate in those aged 65 and older has increased from 92.9 per 100,000 on 7 October to 125 per 100,000 on 14 October. 

“The number of hospitalisations are increasing faster than the exponential growth modelling predicted. This indicates a rapidly deteriorating disease trajectory nationally,” Dr Holohan said. 

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: “There is now a deteriorating epidemiological landscape across the EU. Many EU countries are experiencing increasing hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths related to Covid-19.

Our priorities remain focused on protecting the medically and socially vulnerable, protecting childcare and education settings and preventing unnecessary disruption to non-Covid health and social care services. 

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Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, confirmed that the reproduction number “appears to have increased and is now at 1.4 nationally”.

“Modelling shows that if current trends continue, by 31 October, the number of cases notified daily would be in the range of 1,800 – 2,500 cases with over 400 people in hospital,” Professor Nolan said.

Yesterday, the government announced new restrictions that will see no visits to households allowed except for essential reasons. 

Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan will also be placed under Level 4 of restrictions given the high rates of the virus in these counties.

With reporting by Gráinne Ní Aodha and Hayley Halpin