“I’m hearing from the tracers things like barbeques, outdoor group dining, outdoor gatherings of large groups, house parties…”
Recent Covid-19 outbreaks across the country have been linked with barbeques, other outdoor gatherings and travel, according to the HSE.
Head of the HSE’s test and tracing team Niamh O’Beirne made the comments on Today with Claire Byrne on Friday, following a recent increase in Covid-19 cases.
On Thursday, 994 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Ireland, while this evening around 1,200 are expected.
Asked about where outbreaks are mainly occurring, O’Beirne said: “With Delta, and perhaps it’s the time of year as well, we are seeing more from an outdoor setting. So, it’s groups outdoors.
“I’m hearing from the tracers things like barbeques, outdoor group dining, outdoor gatherings of large groups, house parties and then things we saw previously, which were funerals, weddings, family gatherings and after sports training events.”
O’Beirne also said travel-related outbreaks were “certainly” increasing, with travel accounting for about 10% of cases at the moment.
Questioned if many cases were related to hospitality settings, she replied: “There are a few outbreaks in hospitality but it’s quite small.
“If you look at our total number of outbreaks, last week for example being 107, there were two in hotels. The prior week… there were eight out of 121 outbreaks.
“They’re relatively small. An outbreak remember is just two connected cases… The most connected to those cases was 13 cases.”
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