“Much of our worst concerns have now materialised themselves.”
The Chief Executive of the HSE has called on the Irish public to take “immediate actions” to stop the spread of Covid-19 following a drastic escalation in cases in recent days.
Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday, Paul Reid made what he called a “very urgent and serious call” on behalf of the HSE to the Irish public to curb the spread of the virus after admitting that the worst fears of the HSE prior to Christmas had been realised.
“The situation right now is very alarming,” Reid said.
“We’re all extremely high risk in many parts of the country, indeed all of the country, of becoming infected with the Covid virus.
“The transmission levels are at quite a worrying level we’re seeing across the community, so I do call on everybody to really take immediate actions.
“We need everybody to take immediate and urgent reactions, withdrawal from any planned arrangements, activities that we all may have had to meet with family, whether it’s New Year or elsewhere.
“And really do protect yourself. The safest place is in your home, with your own family. Certainly, the rise in community transmission levels, for us, we need to get back under a level of control and again, our concern is, the impact, that we lose healthcare staff at a time when we need them most.”
Reid’s comments come after a record number of daily cases, 1,546, were reported on Tuesday, a figure that is expected to rise in the coming days and has prompted the government to
return to full Level 5 restrictions, a move which is expected to be confirmed on Wednesday evening.
At the same briefing, Niamh Beirne, the HSE's National Lead for Testing and Tracing, revealed that there has been a 41% rise in demand for Covid-19 testing, with 63,000 referrals in the last week alone, the largest number of which is coming from the 21-30 age group.
Beirne said the HSE is expecting that number to double next week and that there could be as many as 25,000 referrals per day in the coming days.
Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry, meanwhile, said that the current R number - the reproduction rate at which Covid-19 is transmitted, meaning the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to - stands at 1.8 and that even if it is reduced to 1.4, Ireland could be looking at up to 3,000 cases per day by the end of January.
Getting the R number back to below 1, Henry said, would take an enormous national effort.
