ACTING CHIEF Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn has warned that it is "only a matter of time" before coronavirus begins to affect vulnerable groups in Ireland once again.
He said that the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) are closely monitoring the situation, but stated that if case numbers continue to rise, it won't be long before the virus starts spreading to older, more vulnerable groups within the general population.
"If we think back to March, what were the factors that led to us to make the recommendations that we made: We didn't have a vaccine, we didn't have a treatment, and when this virus spread amongst older people or those who are medically vulnerable, it killed them. None of that has changed," Dr Glynn said.
He added that the majority of new Covid-19 cases over the past month or so have been amongst young people, and because they generally appear to be less succeptible to the virus, only a small number of these new cases have led to hospitalisation. Because of this, capacity at hospitals and critical care units have not been put under pressure.
"But that doesn't mean we don’t need to get the numbers back down. Because if we allow the numbers to increase, it will only be a matter of time before it spreads into other groups," he stressed.
"And even leaving that aside, we need to get it back down. Because for anyone whether you’re fit or healthy, whether you’re 20, 30, 40, or 50 years of age, if you get this it’s very unpredictable what your personal outcome from this will be. Many people are suffering chronic fatigue and other chronic effects of this disease."
Over the past two weeks, there have been 1,354 cases, leading to a 14-day incidence of 28.4 per 100,000 people. Of the cases from these two weeks, the median age is 32, with 72% of cases occurring in people under the age of 45.
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