DUBLIN (Reuters) – Health officials in Ireland, where a more infectious variant of the coronavirus first discovered in England has grown, said on Saturday they believe three cases of another new variant found in South Africa had been contained.
Ireland is facing a wave of COVID-19 that has surpassed the first wave last year. He confirmed the first cases of the most infectious variant found on Friday in South Africa in people who had traveled to Ireland from South Africa during the Christmas holidays.
This week, Ireland reported a growing presence of the variant first found in England. It was detected in 25% of positive cases that underwent further testing during the week through January 3, compared to 9% two weeks earlier.
“The UK variant worries us more exclusively about the amount of virus on the island and we know it transmits to the community,” Cillian De Gascun, head of the national virus laboratory, told RTE national broadcaster ‘Ireland.
“The best thing about the South African variant is that we know exactly where these cases came from, the contact has been contained, monitored and tracked, and as far as I know, there was no subsequent transmission.”
The government on Wednesday announced its stricter closure measures since early last year, and warned that a “tsunami” of infections fueled by the UK variant and the relaxation of curbs before Christmas could overwhelm the health system.
The number of patients in Irish hospitals with COVID-19 rose 12% in 24 hours on Saturday to 1,285, as in recent days it exceeded a maximum of 881 seven during the first wave of infections.
Fourteen more patients were admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). This meant that the total number of people receiving critical care was 119 and only 27 of the 284 ICU beds in the country’s public hospitals were left empty.
These hospitals can safely increase ICU capacity to 375, the Chief Health Officer of Ireland (HSE) said this week. The HSE has also reached an agreement to take over private hospital ICU beds for admission to COVID-19.
Padraic Halpin reports