Tomas Doherty
Ireland is in the grip of a third wave of coronavirus, with the outbreak worsening more rapidly than official figures show due to the under-reporting of cases by thousands in recent days.
More than 9,000 people who have tested positive for Covid-19 have yet to be added to the official tally of confirmed cases, the National Public Health Emergency Team said on Friday. A day earlier it had estimated the number of positive tests still pending registration at just 4,000.
Friday saw 11 more deaths related to Covid-19 recorded in the Republic and an additional 1,754 cases.
It brings the total number of deaths linked to the virus in the State to 2,248 with 93,532 cases, according to figures from the Department of Health.
There are currently 581 patients in hospital with the virus, with 56 in intensive care units.
The positivity rate among people tested for Covid-19 is now at 16 per cent. The World Health Organisation recommends the rate should remain below 5 per cent for at least two weeks before public health measures are relaxed.
More than 93,000 tests were carried out in the State over the past seven days.
The 14-day incidence rate of the disease is 321.3 cases per 100,000 people.
Monaghan is the county with the highest infection rate at 581.6 cases per 100,000. Tipperary has the lowest rate, at 138.5 cases.
The Mid Ulster council district is the worst hit area in the North, with an incidence rate of 1041.1 cases per 100,000 people over the last 14 days.
The next highest rate is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon area, with 1,012 cases per 100,000.
In the 48 hours from December 31st to January 1st, another 3,576 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland and 26 more deaths were reported, according to the region's Department of Health.
The latest figures also show that 99 per cent of hospital beds in the North are occupied, with six hospitals operating beyond capacity: Antrim, Causeway, Mater, Royal Hospital, South West Acute Hospital and Ulster Hospital.
Worsening outbreak
The Republic has gone from having the lowest infection rate in the European Union just two weeks ago to having the fastest rate of deterioration.
However, experts do not believe the recent surge is driven by the new, more infectious strain of the virus first identified in the UK.
Dr Cillian De Gascun, the director of the UCD National Virus Reference Laboratory, said the small number of cases in Ireland would suggest that the UK variant, “at a proportion of less than 10 per cent”, was not responsible for the recent “significant and concerning” increase in coronavirus case numbers.
