Over 3,000 cases of Covid-19 have been reported today, for the third day in a row.
Today's figure is 3,024, but it's an estimate due to a technical issue.
Waterford has the highest 14-day incidence rate in the country, followed by Carlow and Longford.
🆕The local electoral areas with the highest rates of Covid in the country👎 pic.twitter.com/Y06N6LtfaL
— Eoghan Murphy (@eoghanymurphy) November 4, 2021
Significant And Unrelenting Pressure
The current levels of Covid-19 are causing "significant and unrelenting" pressure on the health service.
that's according to the Head of the HSE Paul Reid.
458 Covid patients are in hospital, down two from yesterday, while the ICU figure is up four, to 90.
90 Covid patients are in intensive care - and over half haven't been vaccinated.
3492 positive swabs, 12.66% positivity on 27,585 tests.
7 day test positivity is 12.8%.
- Thursday, November 4th 2021#COVID19Ireland pic.twitter.com/EykXmSL7Tg— COVID-19 Data Ireland (@COVID19DataIE) November 4, 2021
Too Early To See A Trend
Paul Reid says while hospital figures may be starting to stabilise, it's too early to know if that's a trend:
"Daily increasing levels of transmission of Covid within the community is causing significant and unrelenting pressure on the health system overall."
"Many aspects of it are under particular duress."
"We are at a level of transmission in the community that has forced many aspects of our response, of our healthcare system, overall into swords responses."
For everyone still wondering about getting the vaccine or just hasn't got around to it yet, scientific and medical information that is clear is available on https://t.co/nDFhPfBLFT Step forward and help protect our health service in the weeks ahead.
99% registered in aged 80+ pic.twitter.com/Ee3jpn4Fb7— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) November 4, 2021
The Difference From January
Royal College of Surgeons Professor Sam McConkey says hospital numbers are more crucial to measure sickness rates now:
"The reason why this link between cases on hospitalisation has changed completely from, say, last January or 2020."
"It’s because, of course, it's a much younger, healthier group of people who are getting Covid now."
"But whereas back last January, it was elderly people who were unvaccinated of course."
"They, of course, got very sick."
