The Department of Health in our Irish Republic, have reported a further 17,071 confirmed cases of Covid-19, within the past 24 hours.
Latest figures available show there are 717 people with the virus in our Republic’s hospitals, up 61 on yesterday and of these, 87 patients are in ICUs around the country; latter an increase of 2 based on yesterday’s reported figures.
In relation to education, the Green Party leader; Minister for the Environment Mr Eamon Ryan, has stated that he expects that schools, crèches and colleges will reopen as scheduled, despite any rise in cases of Covid-19 within communities. His statement comes as hundreds of thousands of primary and secondary school students are due to return to their classrooms on Thursday next, January 6th.
The number of deaths in the Irish Republic, up to December 29th 2021 last and since the pandemic began, stands sadly at 5,912.
While the Department of Health in Northern Ireland have not publicly updated its Covid-19 database again today; it is understood that the omicron variant has been spreading at an exceptional pace, displaying an even more rapid spread towards the end of 2021, with the infection rate standing at an estimated 1,619.8 per 100,00 of its population, in the seven days up until December 27th; and is now the highest rate within the UK.
While there has been a marginal increase in the number of deaths reported in South Africa, same country has now lifted overnight curfew rules, with officials stating that the country may have passed the peak of its fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.
In Antarctica, a Belgian scientific research station is also dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19, despite workers being fully vaccinated and based in one of the world’s remotest regions. Since December 14th at least 16 of the 25 person work force at the Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the virus.
On a worldwide basis, we are aware of 289,366,548 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with sadly 5,442,035 deaths caused by the virus, with at least a further 9,176,184,019 confirmed vaccine doses administered, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. However, it is unlikely that figures from North Korea, China and Russia are accurately reported on.
Continue to cancel plans to celebrate until later, rather than celebrate now and grieve later.
VERY SAD