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Ireland\u2019s young people should be commended for a \u201cdramatic reduction\u201d in numbers of coronavirus cases according to Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan.<\/p>\nIreland\u2019s young people should be commended for a \u201cdramatic reduction\u201d in numbers of coronavirus cases according to Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan.<\/p>\n
Dr Holohan has thanked people aged 19 to 24 for their efforts in driving down the spread of the virus in the Republic at today’s Covid-19 press briefing.<\/p>\n
He said that age group has seen a reduction in incidence rates from 450 per 100,000 to 150 per 100,000 in just two weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have also halved their contacts in the past five weeks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all need to recognize the efforts of our young people and I thank them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) announced three further deaths of people with Covid-19 and 591 new cases of the virus on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n
Of the latest cases, 120 were in Dublin, 75 in Donegal, 50 in Cork, 46 in Kerry, 44 in Limerick and the remaining 256 cases were spread across 20 other counties.<\/p>\n
Dr Holohan also commended Ireland\u2019s overall performance against the virus.<\/p>\n
\u201cA second surge is taking place across Europe. Ireland and Finland are the only countries in the EU where reductions in 14-day incidence have been observed. All other countries are increasing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLevel 5 efforts over the last two weeks have succeeded in further reducing community transmission and disease incidence in Ireland, however now is not the time to be complacent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must keep driving down this disease \u2013 we must keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the Nphet epidemiological modelling advisory group, estimated the reproductive rate of the virus at between 0.7-0.9.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a testament to our collective effort to stop the spread of the virus and it is very good news.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe may be doing better now but it is conditional on whether we keep it up. If we continue to use this time to drive the infection right down, we will be in a good position in four weeks time.\u201d<\/p>\n
In terms of the current coronavirus restrictions, there was no suggestion of a date for any relaxations.<\/p>\n
Dr Holohan said: \u201cWe are not anticipating changing our advice in relation to the kinds of measures that are in place for the six weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut obviously we keep the whole situation under review.\u201d<\/p>\n