Covid-19: 6,196 cases detected last week as health authorities prepare to end mass testing

The number of cases of Covid-19 cases recorded by PCR test last week fell by almost half when compared to the previous seven days.

As health authorities prepare to end mass testing for the disease, the latest update from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) showed a total of 6,196 cases were detected in the week ending July 23rd, a decrease of 46.9 per cent.

The number of positive antigen tests logged on the HSE’s online portal fell by 42.8 per cent to 7,842.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly earlier this week accepted advice from the interim chief medical officer to phase out testing for the general population during the autumn. PCR tests will in future only be offered in cases where GPs deem them to be clinically necessary.

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The highest proportion of new PCR confirmed cases was found in the 35 to 44 age group, at 20.2 per cent of the total.

The five highest incidence rates by county were reported in Carlow, Laois, Limerick, Waterford and Donegal.

The number of clusters of cases, where two or more infections are identified, fell by 33 to a total of 61 for the week. Nursing homes (23) and residential institutions (21) accounted for more than two-thirds of the total.

[ New emergency Covid-19 plan as testing for general population to be phased out by autumn ]

“The Covid numbers, thankfully, seem to have peaked nationally which is a good thing. We are still seeing people getting sick, some getting very, very sick,” Dr Denis McCauley, chair of the Irish Medical Organisation’s GP committee told RTÉ Radio on Thursday.

The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 stood at 513 on Thursday, including 33 people in intensive care. There were 943 people with the disease in hospital two weeks ago.

Dr McCauley said, in future, testing would be “restricted only to people who we think are at high risk of getting Covid complications”.

For those aged under 55, he said, the public health advice is to stay at home with symptoms rather than doing an antigen test.

“The problem is that a lot of people are getting temperatures, they are getting an antigen test [which] says it’s negative; they are feeling [like] Superman,” he said. “They will go out and spread the condition they have and it may indeed be Covid because as you know the antigen test only becomes positive on day three.”