Ireland is going to experience high numbers of Covid-19 deaths “for the next period of time”, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has warned.
He was responding to news of 46 deaths of patients with the disease on Tuesday, the highest daily figure in almost nine months. All but two of the deaths occurred this month.
Attributing the rise in deaths to “unsustainably” high levels of infection, Dr Holohan called on people to stay home “out of respect for those who have lost their lives” or were in hospital.
A total of 3,086 confirmed cases were reported on Tuesday, the lowest daily figure since New Year’s Day.
More cases were recorded in Galway than in Dublin, despite it having a fraction of the capital’s population. In Monaghan, the worst affected county at present, one in every 38 people has the virus.
There were 1,700 Covid-19 patients in hospital on Tuesday evening, including 170 in intensive care, more than the peak set last spring of 155. One in three hospital patients this month has been aged under 65.
With HSE figures showing there were 52 outbreaks in nursing homes last week, twice that of the previous week, it emerged that one south Dublin nursing home – Simpson’s Hospital in Dundrum – recorded 15 deaths from the virus in an outbreak of the disease over Christmas and new year. The home declined to disclose the number of positive cases involved.
Meanwhile, the first 3,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine, the second vaccine to be authorised for use in Ireland, arrived yesterday. A HSE spokesman said it planned to roll out the vaccine as soon as possible and it was hopeful of increased deliveries in the weeks to come.
