Statement from the National Public Health Emergency Team - Thursday 22 October
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From: Department of Health
- Published on: 22 October 2020
- Last updated on: 23 October 2020
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 3 additional deaths related to COVID-19.
There has been a total of 1,871 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.
As of midnight Wednesday 21 October the HPSC has been notified of 1,066 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There has now been a total of 54,476* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.
(*Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 12 confirmed cases. The figure of 54,476 confirmed cases reflects this.)
Of the cases notified today:
- 536 are men / 528 are women
- 67% are under 45 years of age
- the median age is 32 years old
- 244 in Dublin, 104 in Galway, 98 in Cork, 92 in Meath and the remaining 528 cases are spread across all remaining counties
As of 2pm today, 313 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 37 are in ICU. There have been 20 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said:
"We are now in Level 5 because the disease is at very serious levels in our country and posing a significant risk to public health.
"We all need to stay at home, except for essential work and exceptional circumstances. If you are a confirmed case self-isolate at home, if you are a close contact of a confirmed case restrict your movements at home, if you are experiencing symptoms or believe you are a close contact - restrict your movements and contact your GP."
Dr. Heather Burns, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said:
"The 14-day incidence was at 3 per 100,000 at the end of June - today it is 302 per 100,000 population. The risk of you being exposed to COVID-19 is now 100 times greater than it was 4 months ago. Please limit your risk by staying at home and following public health advice."
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said:
"The reproduction number is 1.3 - 1.4 nationally. Our collective goal now is to suppress transmission of the virus and bring our case numbers to manageable levels. If we work hard together to get the reproduction number to 0.5, we should succeed in reducing cases to below 100 a day in six weeks' time."
Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE, said:
"Based on our experience, widespread community transmission results in spread to vulnerable groups in congregated settings. The single most effective measure to protect vulnerable groups, including nursing homes, is to reduce community transmission significantly. Every one of us has a role to play to achieve this."
The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.
ENDS
Today’s cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 21 October 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)
| County | Today’s Cases (to midnight 21/10/20) | 14-Day incidence rate per 100,000 population (14 days to midnight 21/10/20) | New Cases during last 14 days (14 days to midnight 21/10/20) |
| IRELAND | 1,066 | 302.5 | 14,404 |
| Cavan | 56 | 1,055.5 | 804 |
| Meath | 92 | 659.9 | 1287 |
| Westmeath | 16 | 417.9 | 371 |
| Monaghan | 22 | 404.0 | 248 |
| Sligo | 30 | 396.7 | 260 |
| Galway | 104 | 355.7 | 918 |
| Cork | 98 | 339.7 | 1,844 |
| Donegal | 56 | 321.0 | 511 |
| Kildare | 40 | 306.1 | 681 |
| Clare | 18 | 302.1 | 359 |
| Wexford | 19 | 301.2 | 451 |
| Limerick | 44 | 293.0 | 571 |
| Louth | 42 | 289.4 | 373 |
| Longford | <5 | 283.8 | 116 |
| Leitrim | <5 | 271.5 | 87 |
| Kerry | 22 | 269.5 | 398 |
| Roscommon | 19 | 258.7 | 167 |
| Dublin | 244 | 253.3 | 3,412 |
| Carlow | 22 | 242.4 | 138 |
| Mayo | 36 | 227.6 | 297 |
| Laois | 15 | 222.0 | 188 |
| Offaly | 6 | 221.9 | 173 |
| Kilkenny | 14 | 177.4 | 176 |
| Waterford | 25 | 173.0 | 201 |
| Wicklow | 11 | 127.1 | 181 |
| Tipperary | 8 | 120.3 | 192 |
Note:
The lowest national 14-day incidence rate was on 3 July 2020, when the rate was 2.98 cases per 100,000 population.
Hospital statistics
| Total number of cases | 53,410 |
| Total number hospitalised | 4,118 |
| Total number admitted to ICU | 524 |
| Total number of deaths | 1,615 |
| Total number of healthcare workers | 10,086 |
| Number clusters notified | 5,900 |
| Cases associated with clusters | 26,642 |
| Median age | 40 |
- All statistics measured at midnight on Tuesday 20 October.
Gender of patients
| Gender | Number of cases | Change since the day before |
| Female | 28,517 | +621 |
| Male | 24,844 | +533 |
| Unknown | 49 | +1 |
| Total | 53,410 | +1,155 |
- All statistics measured at midnight on Tuesday 20 October.
Age range affected
| Age range | Number of cases | Change since the day before |
| 0 - 4 | 1,056 | +43 |
| 5 - 14 | 2,508 | +104 |
| 15 - 24 | 8,946 | +279 |
| 25 - 34 | 9,241 | +173 |
| 35 - 44 | 8,514 | +144 |
| 45 - 54 | 8,293 | +159 |
| 55 - 64 | 5,956 | +115 |
| 65 - 74 | 3,145 | +60 |
| 75 - 84 | 2,967 | +38 |
| 85+ | 2,755 | +40 |
| Unknown | 29 | No change |
- All statistics measured at midnight on Tuesday 20 October.
How COVID-19 is spreading
| Transmission classification | % |
| Community transmission | 28.1 |
| Close contact with confirmed case | 62.2 |
| Travel abroad | 1.7 |
| Unknown | 8 |
- All statistics measured at midnight on Tuesday 20 October.
Note:
In the event that a person tests positive for COVID-19 and hasn't been abroad or had contact with another confirmed case in Ireland, that's known as community transmission.
In the event that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 can be linked to another confirmed case in Ireland, that's known as close contact.
Hospitalised cases by age group
| Age range | Number of cases | Change since the day before |
| 0 - 4 | 42 | No change |
| 5 - 14 | 38 | +2 |
| 15 - 24 | 124 | +1 |
| 25 - 34 | 265 | +4 |
| 35 - 44 | 330 | +3 |
| 45 - 54 | 537 | +9 |
| 55 - 64 | 620 | +15 |
| 65 - 74 | 725 | +11 |
| 75 - 84 | 883 | +11 |
| 85+ | 551 | +8 |
| Unknown | 2 | -1 |
- All statistics measured at midnight on Tuesday 20 October.
Cases by county
Note: The Health Protection Surveillance Centre have advised that in the process of validating data and reviewing addresses, county totals may change due to cases being reassigned to another county. Totals can go up or down.
| County | Number of cases | Change since the day before |
| Carlow | 418 | +4 |
| Cavan | 1,800 | +86 |
| Clare | 1,099 | +10 |
| Cork | 4,329 | +137 |
| Donegal | 1,756 | +47 |
| Dublin | 21,523 | +254 |
| Galway | 1,743 | +67 |
| Kerry | 855 | +28 |
| Kildare | 3,377 | +67 |
| Kilkenny | 659 | +9 |
| Laois | 698 | +19 |
| Leitrim | 208 | +5 |
| Limerick | 1,664 | +27 |
| Longford | 507 | +6 |
| Louth | 1,442 | +56 |
| Mayo | 952 | +36 |
| Meath | 2,416 | +94 |
| Monaghan | 1,003 | +11 |
| Offaly | 956 | +14 |
| Roscommon | 667 | +20 |
| Sligo | 469 | +18 |
| Tipperary | 1,038 | +11 |
| Waterford | 548 | +7 |
| Westmeath | 1,200 | +86 |
| Wexford | 915 | +25 |
| Wicklow | 1,168 | +11 |
- All statistics measured at midnight on Tuesday 20 October.