{"id":24740,"date":"2022-01-10T08:22:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T13:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24740"},"modified":"2022-01-10T09:24:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T14:24:16","slug":"omicron-to-peak-in-next-two-weeks-in-the-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24740","title":{"rendered":"Omicron To Peak In Next Two Weeks In The North"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sir Michael McBride (PA Archive\/PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Northern Ireland is set to reach the peak of the Omicron wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the next couple of weeks, the chief medical officer has indicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Michael McBride said case numbers will \u201cincreasingly become a less reliable indicator\u201d of how extensive the epidemic in this wave is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a significant change in testing behavior, we\u2019ve brought about some changes in our testing strategy with removing the requirements for confirmatory PCR tests, but it\u2019s really important that people still report their positive lateral flow tests because that\u2019s important for contact tracing,\u201d he told BBC Radio Ulster\u2019s Good Morning Ulster program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the true peak we\u2019re likely to see in the next couple of weeks, the next one-two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the numbers will be much higher than we\u2019re actually reporting and are much higher than we\u2019re currently reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to bear in mind that hospital pressures continue to increase, and we will see pressures there peak towards the latter end of January and into early February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a long and difficult time ahead for our health service, and we can all play our part by getting our vaccine, getting our booster and protecting the health service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about Northern Ireland having the worst infection rate in the UK, Dr McBride said comparing regions is complicated, pointing out that there is more testing in the North than the rest of the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re testing more people in Northern Ireland than any other part of the UK, we have done for some time \u2026 we\u2019re testing more people in Northern Ireland compared to the Republic of Ireland, and clearly the more people you test, the more cases you detect. because obviously a third of cases are asymptomatic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 7,000 further confirmed cases of the virus were notified over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A further seven deaths of patients who had previously tested positive for Covid-19 were also recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some 58,000 new cases of the virus have been reported in the North since the start of 2022 \u2013 more than the total for the first six months of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr McBride also urged everyone, particularly those aged 50 and over, to come forward for vaccination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the uptake of the vaccine has slowed down since Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best thing that any of us can do to ensure that we stay well, that we protect our family, and that we ease some of the pressures on our health service, is to get vaccinated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe vaccine is really, really important and the booster is really, really important to ensure that, if you do get symptoms and you do get infected, that the disease is much milder.\u201d<\/p>\n

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