Muireann Duffy
A member of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) says there has been a "significant decrease" in the number of young people contracting Covid-19.
Professor Philip Nolan says there are signs the level of infection in those aged 65 and older is starting to decline while the numbers in hospitals and Intensive Care Units have stabilised.
Prof Nolan added that it was clear people were complying with Level 5 restrcitions, with younger people putting in a particular effort to supress the virus.
Yesterday, 68 per cent of the 499 cases of Covid-19 confirmed were in people under the age of 45. The median age of those with Covid-19 was 32.
Of the #COVID19 cases notified today;
•244 are men / 249 are women
•68% are under 45 years of age
•The median age is 32 years old
•175 in Dublin, 72 in Cork, 29 in Limerick, 26 in Mayo, 21 in Meath and the remaining 176 cases are spread across 19 other counties.— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) November 6, 2020
Earlier this week, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan also noted the decline in the virus among younger people, commending them for their effort in driving transmission rates down.
Dr Holohan said there had been a "dramatic reduction" in the number of people between the ages of 19 and 24 contracting Covid-19 in the first two weeks of Level 5 restrictions.
In that two-week period, the age group's 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 dropped from 450 to 150, below the current national rate of 196.4.
Dr Holohan added that young people had halved their contacts over the last five weeks.
