Better news for anxious Rossies tonight

There was some more positive news for Roscommon tonight, with confirmation that less than five cases of COVID-19 were reported in the county during Tuesday.

The news comes in the wake of rising concerns that the county could be subject to more severe restrictions following a recent surge of cases, topped off by the announcement of 15 new cases on Monday alone.

However, tonight, the Department of Health, in announcing 429 new cases by midnight Tuesday, did not mention Roscommon among the list of 15 counties which recorded five or more cases.

The Department said the 429 cases reported during Tuesday included 189 in Dublin, 60 in Cork, 31 in Donegal, 28 in Galway, 18 in Kildare, 15 in Wicklow, 15 in Clare, 12 in Limerick, 9 in Meath, 8 in Louth, 7 in Cavan, 7 in Longford, 6 in Laois, 5 in Offaly, 5 in Westmeath, with the remaining 14 cases in 8 counties.

The official county breakdown is a day behind the national figures, so the exact number of new cases reported in Roscommon on Tuesday will not be known until tomorrow night.

However, it's clear that the number is less than five.

The 14-day incidence rate of the disease had risen sharply to 99.2 per 100,000 population but should soften a little following the reduced number of cases reported today.

Nationally, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has been informed that one person with COVID-19 has died.

There has now been a total of 1,804 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Tuesday 29 September, the HPSC has been notified of 429 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said:

"This evening there are 130 people with COVID-19 in hospital – 15 in the last 24 hours. Recently we asked everyone to half their social contacts. Reducing the number of people that we meet - and engaging safely with a small core group - remains the cornerstone of our collective effort to reduce the spread of this virus and its impact on our health and the health of the people that we care about."

Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE, said: "Community transmission represents the greatest threat to patients and staff in hospitals and residential care facilities. When you are making plans to meet friends and socialise this week, take a minute to consider our healthcare workers, who have been at the frontline since the beginning of the pandemic, in hospitals, in nursing homes and in our homes, caring for those who are ill and those who are the most vulnerable to this highly infectious virus.

"Every time you wear a facemask, wash your hands, cover your coughs and keep your distance, your actions are not only preventing the transmission of the virus, but you are also protecting older and vulnerable people and healthcare workers."

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said:

"The R number is now between 1.2 and 1.4. While we are cautiously optimistic about Dublin, we have seen relatively high case numbers in the last few days, and it will be a number of days yet before the pattern is clear. Case numbers are clearly rising across the country. We need to remain vigilant, to ensure we do not lose the ground that we have gained across the capital city since we moved to Level 3, and to ensure we do not see further deterioration outside the capital."