AS ANOTHER 52 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Donegal this evening, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has urged people to consider their Christmas contacts.
Nationally tis evening, health officials confirmed another four Covid-19 related deaths.
A further 764 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed.
In the last 14 days, there have been 420 cases of Covid-19 with the county’s 14-day incidence rate, per 100,000 population remaining the country’s highest at 263.8.
“Every indicator of disease severity is moving in the wrong direction, more rapidly than we had anticipated,” Dr Holohan said.
“We have particularly strong concerns about the prospect of inter-generational mixing around the festive season.
“If these younger people come into contact with their loved ones over the age of 65, we could see a spike in infections in this more vulnerable group. This would lead to very a serious pattern of disease, hospitalisations, ICU admissions and unnecessary deaths.
“If you have been socialising in the past few weeks or over this weekend, consider your Christmas plans carefully.
“Is it responsible to meet with your family over 65 later this week, if you have not kept your contacts low? Should you cancel your plans? We have the very real prospect of COVID-19 vaccines on the horizon.
“Ensure that your loved ones stay alive to receive them, by keeping your distance from them if you have not restricted your movements to this point. As difficult as it may seem, staying away from older family this Christmas will protect them – and it would be an exceptional sacrifice made for the common good.”;
Of the cases notified today: 403 are men and 355 are women; 67 per cent are under 45 years of age
the median age is 34 years old.
284 of today’s cases were in Dublin, with 70 in Limerick, 52 in Donegal, 44 in Cork, 37 in Wexford and the remaining 277 cases are spread across another 20 counties
As of 2pm today, 233 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 29 are in ICU. There have been 15 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
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