The surge in confirmed cases is as a result of a “delay in notifications” from one hospital.
The National Public Health Emergency Team confirmed this evening that 10 more people have died after being diagnosed with Covid-19 in Ireland. The latest figures bring Ireland’s death toll to 1,506, with denotifications taken into account.
However, more shocking is the 426 additional cases that have been confirmed by the NPHET, after days of comparatively low new cases being confirmed. The total number of confirmed cases in the Republic of Ireland now stands at 23,827.
The NPHET has said that these new cases have not all occurred in the last few days, and that they have only been confirmed today due to a delay in notification.
Speaking at this evening’s briefing, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tony Holohan said that these additional cases stem from one hospital, going back as far as mid-March, and that the hospital in question had not recorded more than 10 deaths due to Covid-19 in any single day. It was further said that two-thirds of the 426 cases are historical, suggesting that 142 of the cases are recent.
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said; “All indicators of the spread of COVID-19 are decreasing, including the average number of cases per day, number of people in hospital and ICU, admissions to ICU and number of reported deaths per day.
“This is reinforced by our estimate reproduction number which is currently stable between 0.4 and 0.6. We will be monitoring this figure and the overall number of infections in the population very closely over the coming weeks.”
Holohan also confirmed that the NPHET met today to give advice to the government ahead of Monday (18 May), which is the scheduled start date for Phase One of Ireland’s recovery plan.
He said: “We still want to see progress over the coming days. We need to continue our physical distancing and hygiene measures if we are to continue to suppress the spread of the disease.”
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