A further 1,620 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the State on Friday evening.
There are 328 coronavirus patients in hospital, of whom 59 are in ICU, according to the latest figures from the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).
Following the release of the latest case numbers, Prof Philip Nolan of Nphet said the 14-day incidence of the disease was decreasing.
While the seven-day average case count had fallen from 1,784 to 1,421, Prof Nolan warned “this is still very high”.
“The coming weeks are our opportunity to drive incidence down and reduce the risk so we can continue the plan to reopen safely,” said Prof Nolan on Twitter.
The latest figures follow an anouncement from Taoiseach Micheál Martin that 90 per cent of adults in the State are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, while the seven-millionth dose was expected to be administered on Friday.
Ireland has reached two “major milestones” in its vaccine rollout, Mr Martin wrote on Twitter on Friday morning.
Health Service Executive (HSE) boss Paul Reid said 92.5 per cent of adults are now partially vaccinated. The “brighter news” extends to severe illness also, he said, with Covid hospitalisations “trending downwards” and overall testing positivity reducing.
The latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show that infection across Ireland has fallen by 14 per cent in the last two weeks. A fortnight ago the average incidence rate had climbed to 526.4 but has continued to fall, reaching 450.9 as of last Monday.
However, problems persist around the Border. Monaghan is the only county in this State to have local areas where the 14-day incidence rate surpasses 1,500 cases per 100,000 residents. The Ballybay-Clones area and Monaghan Town are particularly affected, with a rate of 1,576 and 1,538 per 100,000 respectively.
Co Donegal’s Carndonagh is no longer the worst affected area in the country, but infection levels remain stubbornly high, at 1,427 per 100,000 – the third-most affected area.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, six further deaths of patients who had tested positive for the disease were reported on Friday. The North’s Department of Health said there had also been 1,687 new confirmed cases in the last 24-hour reporting period.
On Friday morning, there were 461 Covid-19 inpatients in hospital, 43 of whom were in intensive care. A total of 2,484,598 vaccines have been administered.
In the latest weekly update from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra), which draws its figures from different data sources than the toll reported by the Stormont department, a further 54 deaths involving Covid-19 were recorded.
Collating the number of fatalities in the week to September 3rd, it take the total number of coronavirus-linked deaths recorded by Nisra to 3,269, higher than the 2,399 recorded by the North’s department of health to the same date.
The department’s statistics focus primarily on hospital deaths and only include people who have tested positive for the virus. The Nisra figure includes 2,204 deaths in hospital, 807 in care homes, 14 in hospices and 244 at residential addresses or other locations.
Nisra reported that, up to September 3rd, the deaths of 1,059 care home residents were linked to Covid-19, just over 30 per cent of all coronavirus-related deaths.
Surge
Meanwhile, the HSE is facing an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 testing of children, as more than 1,600 primary and secondary schools have reported positive cases since reopening.
About 32,000 tests have been carried out over the past week on children under the age of 15 attending walk-in centres or who were self-referred. This figure does not include children who were referred for tests by GPs or who were identified as close contacts of confirmed cases.
The proportion of those testing positive among walk-in and self-referred tests has dropped to 6 per cent from 13 per cent last week, reflecting the large numbers coming forward to be tested.
It is estimated that more than 10,000 schoolchildren are isolating at home, as 632 secondary schools and 1,011 primary schools and preschool facilities have contacted the HSE about cases.
Prof Nolan said it will only start to become apparent from this week onwards if the reopening of schools is associated with a significant increase in transmission of the virus. He said the incidence in children in the first week of schools was “the same or lower than the preceding two weeks”.
“The current reduction in levels of infection in the community reduces the risk for children in schools,” he wrote on Twitter.
Abigail Collins, HSE public health lead for schools, said transmission of the virus in schools is no different to what was observed prior to the summer holidays.
“It is just that with very many more cases in this age group, there are very many more schools that are coming to us.”
Dr Collins, a consultant in public health medicine, also sought to reassure school principals encountering delays getting advice from the HSE because its helpline closed at 4.30pm.
Suggesting there was no need for rushed decisions on how best to manage close contacts, she said that the incubation period of the virus was four to seven days so that allows time for risk assessment to be carried out in a “slightly calmer and more orderly way”.
