Health officials are urging the people of Clare not to get complacent in spite of the reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases here in the past number of days.
Just 15 cases were confirmed here last night – the lowest number here since December 28th.
Clare’s incidence rate of the virus now stands at 536.1 per 100,000 people – only eight counties have a lower prevalence of the disease.
Last night’s daily case numbers were the lowest in this county in a month – however, the warning from local public health experts now is ‘don’t get distracted’.
In a joint statement today, the Departments of Community and Public Health in the Midwest, and the UL Hospitals Group, say they welcome what they describe as the ‘sizeable buy-in’ to Level five restrictions.
And while the fall-off in cases is also welcomed, today’s statement says the statistics don’t paint ‘full picture’ of the scale of the virus in the community because close contacts of confirmed cases are still not being tested.
UL Hospitals Group CEO Colette Cowan says local hospitals remain ‘severely challenged’ by the impact of COVID-19, and the significant curtailment of scheduled care as a result of high transmission rates over the past number of weeks.
115 COVID-positive patients were being treated across the UL Hospitals Group, an increase of three on the night before, but still well back on the levels reported last week.
This morning, meanwhile, the INMO says there were 50 patients waiting for a bed in Dooradoyle this morning, almost a third of all patients waiting to be admitted to an Irish hospital.
