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Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has said that coronavirus has become a more \u201chousehold disease\u201d which families are exposed to at home, rather than in the wider community.<\/p>\nChief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has said that coronavirus has become a more \u201chousehold disease\u201d which families are exposed to at home, rather than in the wider community.<\/p>\n
Dr Holohan told a briefing that the contact type here was more limited to within households than communities.<\/p>\n
He added that while the discovery is encouraging, the number of people that individuals come in to contact with needs to fall further.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf each person on average is to infect another three people then this infection is going to continue to grow,\u201d Dr Holohan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we made the recommendations that an individual case self-isolate for 14 days, and the contacts in that household to restrict their movements.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think it\u2019s important for people within the household to try to take measures that prevent them from passing this infection on from one to the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo those are some of the measures that we will track.\u201d<\/p>\n
It comes as authorities in the country said there has been another 402 cases of coronavirus confirmed in the country in the past day, bringing the total number to 3,849.<\/p>\n
A further 13 patients with Covid-19 died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 98.<\/p>\n
Of the 148 total cases admitted to intensive care units, 25 have been discharged.<\/p>\n
Dr Holohan added: \u201cSadly there have been 14 deaths from ICU and 109 remain in ICU. The median age of ICU admission is 62.\u201d<\/p>\n
The median age of those who had died with Covid-19 in the Republic was 92.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had reports of 160 clusters of varying sizes involving 659 cases in total. Just over 25% are reported as healthcare workers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Earlier this week Dr Holohan was admitted to hospital for tests unrelated to Covid-19.<\/p>\n
He described seeing a \u201cworrying scene\u201d in which there was empty waiting rooms and empty beds.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWhile protecting yourself from Covid-19 is a priority, no one should ignore signs that they may need medical attention for other ailments such as lumps, chest pain or other concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease do not ignore any symptom outside of Covid-19. The hospitals are there for all ailments, not just Covid-19.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Holohan also said he \u201cwouldn\u2019t be surprised\u201d if the lockdown restrictions the Government put in place last week will continue beyond April 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very conscious of the scale of impact that this is having on society and the ask we have made,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s in terms of people in the education system, in the workplace, in society generally and each of us in our day-to-day family lives \u2013 the ask of the population is very significant so it weighs heavily on us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t come to government asking for measures like those that we had to come and ask for on three occasions so far without giving very significant consideration to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is unprecedented territory in terms of the arrangement that we now have in place in society.\u201d<\/p>\n