The Health Service Executive now has the capacity to process 140,000 Covid-19 tests a week, up from 120,000, according to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.

While demand for testing dropped 40 per cent last week as infections decline, Mr Donnelly said it was reassuring that capacity has been increased.

The reproduction number, a key indicator of the spread of Covid-19, has dropped below 1, he told the Oireachtas health committee on Wednesday.

Hospital Report

The reproduction number (R0) now stands at 0.7 to 0.9, the Minister said, compared to 1 last week.

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An R0 of less than 1 means the virus is declining as each case is passed on to less than one other person.

A further eight deaths of patients with Covid-19 were reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team on Wednesday. This brings to 1,930 the total number of deaths related to the disease.

Another 444 confirmed cases of the virus were also reported by Nphet, bringing the total number of cases to 63,483.

The new cases reported include 158 in Dublin, 48 in Cork, 36 in Galway, 28 in Limerick and 174 cases spread across other counties. Three counties reported no new cases.

The median age of cases is 37 years, with 61 per cent aged under 45 years.

Additional admissions

There were 310 Covid-19 patients in hospital, including 41 in ICU. The last 24 hours saw 25 additional admissions to hospital.

Cavan remains the county with the highest 14-day incidence of the disease, at 364.9 per 100,000 people. However, the county recorded fewer than five new cases on Wednesday.

The national incidence has fallen to 212.7, with Leitrim recording the lowest incidence at 68.7.

The 14-day incidence of the disease stands at 228 cases per 100,000 people, Mr Donnelly told the committee. This compares to 278 in the previous 14-day period.

The Minister said the rate was falling in 23 of the 26 counties in the Republic.

“By moving early and comprehensively, Ireland is currently bucking the trend being seen in many other parts of Europe,” he said.

However, the number of positive cases remained a serious concern. “We have seen almost 11,000 cases reported in the past 14 days. We must continue to actively suppress this virus to the greatest extent possible.”

In addition, Covid-19 infection rates in Dublin were not reducing “as much as I would like”, with case numbers down 13 per cent in the past two weeks, much lower than the fall in the rest of the country.

In Dublin north, cases are increasing, while numbers were “flatlining” in Dublin south-west, he noted. Responding to the Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall, who said infections were “out of control” in some parts of Dublin, the Minister said mobile testing was being provided in some areas.

A ‘game-changer’

Rapid antigen testing for Covid-19 could be a “game-changer”, but first information is needed on which of these tests is the best to use, Mr Donnelly said.

The cost of a rapid test is about €10, compared to €200 for the standard PCR test, he pointed out.

Asked about plans to create three elective hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Galway, Mr Donnelly said a preliminary business case for the three facilities would be ready before the end of the year.

He said the public health workforce would be doubled from 250 to 500, and work was currently ongoing in relation to the configuration of this increase between doctors, nurses and other grades of staff.

Mr Donnelly said half of the 600,000 flu vaccine does for children have been distributed and the rest would be shortly. Among adults, supplies for 950,000 have been distributed and the remaining 400,000 doses have arrived in the country and will be distributed.

In Northern Ireland, the department of health recorded 10 new Covid-19 deaths, taking the pandemic death toll there to 740.

There were 679 new cases reported there on Wednesday, bringing the total to 40,858.