LATEST FIGURES SHOW that there are now 156 people with Covid-19 in hospital and 25 people in ICU, the deputy CMO has said.

Dr Ronan Glynn said the numbers have increased in recent days, growing from 122 people in hospital and 20 in intensive care last Thursday. 

“Trends in case numbers and incidence are now being reflected in indicators of disease severity,” Glynn said.

This evening, 611 further cases of Covid-19 and five deaths were confirmed by the Department of Health. 

Glynn reminded that there were just eight people with Covid-19 in hospital at the beginning of August. At the start of September, there were six people in ICU. 

He said that there has been a growing increase in the rates of mortality associated with the disease. 

In August, there were five deaths and in September there were 34. So far in October, there have been eight Covid-related deaths notified to health officials. 

The five-day average of daily case numbers has increased from 370 cases from the previous five days up to last Thursday to 506 on average over the past five days.

There were 3,436 coronavirus cases reported over the past seven days, Glynn said. 

The positivity rate of the virus has also increased from 3% last Thursday to 4% today. 

Professor Philip Nolan, the chair of NPHET’s Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said the objective is “to not have people in intensive care”. 

He said the discussion around ICU capacity should be focused on keeping the virus transmission rate low and prevent people getting sick in the first place. 

“We should be saying that isn’t an issue because it isn’t our plan to have significant numbers of people in ICU, our plan is to suppress the virus,” he said. 

Dr Siobhán Ni Bhriain, consultant psychiatrist and HSE integrated care lead, said that ICU “is not the place to be”. 

“ICU is the last stop in the care pathway for any illness. Focus on prevention and follow public health advice to ensure care pathways are available to as many people and treatments as possible,” she said.