Latest strain thought to be more transmissible, but no evidence of more severe levels of illness The true scale of the latest surge in Covid-19 cases is likely to be much higher than the official figures recorded here, a leading health official has warned. This week the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) reported that, in the week to June 1, a total of 505 cases of Covid-19 were reported in Ireland, an increase of 64 per cent on the 306 cases notified to health authorities the previous week. As many as 172 people with Covid are also in hospital.
However, due to limited levels of disease reporting, the level of Covid in the country is likely to be much higher. “We haven’t seen a summer wave for a few years, so this is a concern,” Dr Eamonn O’Moore , HPSC director for national health protection has warned. “It is a relatively modest increase in numbers, although this is due to the fact that we only really test these days the people that are in clinical categories requiring testing, so the true scale is likely to be larger in terms of infections.
” Dr O’Moore said that Covid testing is currently confined to those in at-risk groups, such as people with immunodeficiencies and older people. As a result, the reported cases mostly consist of people aged 65 or older. Health officials believe the current wave of infections is down to the emergence of the new ‘FLiRT’ strain of the JN.
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