Public urged to ‘review’ New Year plans in light of ‘alarming’ rise in cases

The HSE is urging people to rethink any upcoming New Years plans they might have in light of an "alarming" rise in cases in recent days.  New Year's Eve is but days away, however, with the number of Covid-19 cases in the country on the rise, people are being asked to "review" their plans in an effort to limit the spread of the virus. Speaking out on the matter, CEO of the HSE Paul Reid tweeted to say: "Testing & tracing volumes now at alarming levels. Our highest daily tests now at 23,000. Community positivity reaching 10%. Close contacts averaging at 5 people. Tracing calls gone from less than 10K to now over 3OK per week. Please review New Year Plans to keep safe." https://twitter.com/paulreiddublin/status/1343159824910077953 The plea comes after over 700 more cases were confirmed yesterday. Commenting that the sharp increase in numbers is a "reminder not to be distracted from the core actions which stop transmission of the virus", the HSE's Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry later said that the arrival of the vaccine "offers hope for the future". Rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine is due to begin in Ireland tomorrow after it arrived in the country over the weekend. Header image via Shutterstock

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