The head of the HSE has said there are “reasons to be very hopeful” as Ireland’s hospital and ICU figures continue to fall.
This morning, there were 475 COVID-19 patients in Irish hospitals, with 112 people in intensive care with their symptoms.
It comes after the lowest daily case figure since mid-December was announced last night.
Meanwhile the 14-day incidence of the virus now stands at 201.2.
Announcing the 359 new cases and 14 further deaths yesterday evening, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said the daily figure was “very welcome.”
In a tweet this morning, HSE Chief Paul Reid said the vaccines are now “showing very positive early signs of effectiveness with a huge drop in infections among the most vulnerable and health workers.
Reasons to be very hopeful. Hospital (475) & ICU (112) nbrs down again. Vaccines showing very positive early signs of effectiveness. Infections amongst the most vulnerable & healthcare workers hugely decreasing. More to go, so let's see this through now. #COVID19 @HSELive
— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) March 3, 2021
The World Health Organisation Special Envoy on COVID-19 Dr David Nabarro told Newstalk that figures are still far too high to relax.
“I have to say that the plateau is still higher than it was between the last two peaks October and January and that is the warning sign,” he said.
“This could pick up any time. Please everybody, mark my words, we can’t relax with this virus. It is a horrible thing and we just have to stay on the alert.”
He said a zero-Covid strategy would not be the right approach for Ireland at the moment.
“Quite simply, there is still a lot of virus around in Ireland,” he said.
“Pushing it down to zero is a tough job even given the geographical advantages of being Ireland.
“I would be working on keeping the numbers low but not trying to go for zero at this present time.”
As of Saturday, a total of 435,895 doses of vaccine had been administered in Ireland.
Some 141,345 people are fully vaccinated while 294,550 have received their first dose.
