THE DEPARTMENT OF Health’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has advised people of all ages to follow official guidelines about Covid-19.
There have been numerous reports of people gathering in crowds and failing to adhere to social distancing (staying at least two metres away from other people) despite repeated warnings.
Speaking at the Department of Health’s daily coronavirus briefing, Holohan said this is “an ongoing challenge, not just for young people but in general if people perceive themselves as being at low risk to the outcome of the infection”.
Holohan warned that there have been many cases of young people needing to be hospitalised because of Covid-19 and, in some cases, dying.
“Our message is that although this as an infection is more severe and has a greater impact among people who have underlying medical conditions and people who are older, it does not mean if you are young and healthy, this disease cannot affect you in a significant way, although the risk of that is lower, it’s not a zero risk.
“This is an infection, as we’ve said from the beginning, that’s mild in 80% or more of cases and has a good outcome for the majority of people who are young and healthy but there are many, many case reports of young otherwise healthy people with no underlying health conditions who have picked up this infection who have had to be hospitalised including into intensive care and, in some cases, where that has resulted in death,” Holohan stated.
10 more deaths
A further 255 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the Republic of Ireland today, bringing the total number of cases here to 1,819.
A further 10 deaths connected to the coronavirus were also confirmed, bringing the total number of deaths to 19.
Three female patients and seven male patients died; nine of those who died were in the east of the country and one was in the south.
The median age of patients diagnosed with Covid-19 who have died was 79 years; 68% were male and 32% were female.
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