Clare hits new high of daily COVID-19 cases

*Photograph: Sean Curtin / True Media

Clare’s highest amount of daily COVID-19 cases has been announced.

On Sunday, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) announced there were 169 new cases of the virus in Co Clare among the 4,962 across the country. 1,260 cases are in Dublin, 652 in Limerick, 350 in Cork, 321 in Louth, 238 in Meath and 1,972 spread across all remaining counties

Subsequently, a spike in the 14 day incidence per 100k of the population has been observed in the county. The figure now stands at 437.6 which is the thirteenth highest in the country and compares with the national rate of 469.8.

Health officials had cautioned in previous days that thousands of cases had been under-reported with a backlog in testing.

An additional seven deaths have been notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre bringing the country’s death toll to 2,259.

Almost 100 hospitalisations were recorded in the past 24 hours. As of 2pm today, 685 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 62 are in ICU. 96 additional hospitalisations occurred in the past 24 hours.

“This is a critical time. We are seeing a really significant surge in infection, which is leading to a very rapid increase in both hospitalisations and admissions to critical care units. This is not only unsustainable for the healthcare system, but also a deeply concerning level of preventable sickness and suffering that we must work together to address as quickly as possible,” the Chief Medical Officer stated.

Dr Tony Holohan elaborated, “The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has more than doubled from this day last week, and so has the number of people in ICU. Remember that behind each hospital statistic and ICU figure is a real person like you, with a family who cares about them, and a team of healthcare workers dedicated to protecting their lives. We must be as dedicated as we all were in the spring in our commitment to following the public health advice”.

He renewed his appeal for the public to act “as though you are infectious”. He said, “What we all do at a collective level today will have a direct impact on the level of infection and hospitalisations in the weeks to come”.

Clare Senator, Martin Conway (FG) outlined that the 169 new cases in Clare and 652 announced in Limerick stress the need for the people of the Mid-West to follow all guidelines. “Nearly 1000 cases here in the Mid-West. We need to stay at home & adhere to public health advice”.