Almost 500 Covid-19 cases being reported in Cork each day
The five-day moving average of cases for the period to December 16 was 489. Picture: Andy Gibson
Almost 500 Covid-19 cases are being reported in Cork every day with more than 7,200 cases reported in Cork in the 14 days to December 16 alone.
Figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) show that 7,201 cases of the virus were reported in Cork in the 14 days to December 16, with 3,757 of these cases in the last seven days.
The five day moving average of cases for the period to December 16 was 489.
The figures come as concern mounts over the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus in Ireland.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland this morning, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that the National Public Health Emergency Team would be continuing to monitor the Covid-19 situation over the festive period.
Dr Holohan said he believed the new restrictions introduced by the Government will substantially cut the volume of total social contact across society if people follow "not just the letter but the spirit" of the guidelines.
“We believe that if we can follow the measures that have been mandated and decided upon by Government that we can have without recourse to further restrictions, so my message is now to concentrate on what’s in front of us.”
He said that no decision has been made on extra restrictions.
Dr Holohan called on people to reduce the number of people they meet over Christmas.
“Because things are open, it doesn’t mean that you have to do them, necessarily.”
He refused to speculate over whether schools would remain closed after the Christmas holidays, amid concerns about the spread of the virus among children.
He said that Nphet would watch the situation closely.
The chief medical officer stressed that vaccines and booster jabs should protect people from severe disease.
Asked on RTÉ radio whether next Christmas might look more normal, he said: “My focus is on this Christmas, because we’re right now in a situation where, and I don’t like using analogies like tidal waves and so on, but the wave of infection that this is going to represent is right in front of us now.
“I’m not going to speculate as to where we’re going to be next Christmas in relation to all of those things. My focus, as I say right now, is on the imminent risk that exists from a public health point of view arising from Omicron for the Irish public.”
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