Today has brought a fall in the number of patients with Covid-19 in Ireland’s hospitals.
Latest hospital figures show there are 327 Covid-19 patients in hospitals around the country – down from 354 on Tuesday.
Today’s reduction comes after we hit the highest number of coronavirus patients in hospital (344) since May on Monday.
The last 24 hours have seen 19 people admitted to Ireland’s hospitals with the infection, while 40 have been discharged.
On Tuesday, Ireland reported a further 720 cases of coronavirus across the country, with five more deaths confirmed.
Despite a reduction in case numbers over the last few days, Dr Tony Holohan warned on Tuesday that it’s too early to say if Ireland has turned a corner in its ongoing battle with the deadly virus.
The Chief Medical Officer said he was “definitely not” able to say with confidence that a corner has been turned.
He pointed out the case numbers in Dublin – some 228 cases were reported on Tuesday – had initially stabilised after the introduction of Level Three restrictions, before taking off again.
“I wouldn’t take any encouragement from it at this stage,” he said. “We need to see this kind of change and see it keep up, and accelerate if anything from where we are at the moment.”
And Dr Holohan poured cold water on the idea that international travel may be safe by Christmas for family members hoping to visit loved ones abroad.
Speaking at yesterday’s briefing, the health boss said Christmas travel has not yet been discussed specifically by Ireland’s National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
But, in comments that will likely prompt fears in some families that international travel could be frowned upon even at Christmas, he added that it’s currently “too dangerous” for international travel.
There are now fears that the Chief Medical Officer could issue an edict advising against people coming home from abroad for Christmas in the coming weeks.
