Nearly 1,500 people were hospitalised with Covid-19 in October, according to the latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
Nursing homes and hospitals across the country continued to bear the brunt of new Covid-19 cases between weeks 40 and 43 — the first three weeks of October, reports Breaking News.
However, infection numbers have fallen sharply compared to the summer months, when cases peaked at nearly 600 a week.
Data shows that last week there were 221 new Covid-19 cases, with 98 people requiring hospitalisation. No patients were admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICUs), and no deaths were recorded, though there were 10 deaths in week 40, three in week 41, and three in week 42, reports Breaking News.
The Integrated Respiratory Virus Bulletin issued on Thursday noted that Covid-19 activity remains at low to moderate levels, with an overall incidence of 4.3 per 100,000 population.
Cases dropped by 37.2%, from 352 in week 42 to 221 in week 43, while hospitalisations declined by 18.3%, from 120 to 98. Hospital bed occupancy has also been decreasing in recent weeks, reports Breaking News.
The XFG variant continues to dominate, accounting for 83.1% of infections between weeks 36 and 40, while NB.1.8.1 represented 13.8% of cases during the same period.
There were 15 reported “outbreaks” last week, bringing the total to 91 between October 1st and 21st, reports Breaking News.
Among healthcare settings, nursing homes remain the most affected, though cases there have dropped significantly — from nearly 300 in late April to around 50 last week. Hospitals continue to record between 25 and 50 cases, alongside residential and community care settings.
From January to early June, weekly case numbers ranged from under 100 to around 200, before rising steadily through August to almost 600. Since then, numbers have declined again to between 300 and under 150 per week, reports Breaking News.
People aged 65 and older continue to make up the largest share of infections, both last week and across 2024, with nearly 300 cases, followed by those aged 45–64 and 15–24.
ICU admissions have remained consistently low throughout the year, and weekly deaths have stayed in single digits, reports Breaking News.
The counties most affected in October were Dublin, followed by Cork, Louth, Kildare, Kerry, Limerick, Galway, and Tipperary, while Laois recorded the fewest cases.
In a statement, the Health Service Executive (HSE) said: “County-level data on deaths is not provided due to small numbers and medical confidentiality. Covid-19 deaths are defined as a death in a person with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 infection, this includes cases detected postmortem. These data are provisional due to the time delay with death registration in Ireland,” reports Breaking News.
Official figures are recognised to understate the true spread of the virus due to reduced testing since the pandemic.
Meanwhile, influenza activity has increased but remains below baseline levels, reports Breaking News.
For the week ending October 26th, there were 144 influenza cases compared to 119 the previous week, an incidence rate of 2.8 per 100,000 population. There were 24 hospitalisations, but no ICU admissions or deaths.
While influenza bed occupancy remains low, it has been edging upward in recent weeks, reports Breaking News.
RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) activity remained low and stable, with an incidence of 0.7 per 100,000. There were 36 reported cases, 16 hospitalisations, and no ICU admissions or deaths. RSV-related hospital bed occupancy has remained low and steady.
There were 20 acute respiratory infection (ARI) outbreaks reported in week 43 — 15 from Covid-19, two from influenza, and three from other upper respiratory infections — matching the number reported the previous week, reports Breaking News.
Of these outbreaks, one occurred in a community or long-stay facility, seven in hospitals, nine in nursing homes, and three in residential institutions. No RSV outbreaks were recorded.
According to the HSE, flu vaccine uptake so far this winter is slightly behind last year’s rates among older adults, reports Breaking News.
Up to the start of October, 28% of people aged 60 and over had received the vaccine, compared with 29% at the same point in 2023. Among children aged 2–17, uptake has increased from 3% last year to nearly 5%.
The HSE said the National Immunisation Information System collects vaccination data, adding: “The vaccine uptake target is 50% for children aged two to 17 and 75% for those aged 60 and over. Others include healthcare workers, pregnant women, carers and household contacts of people with a health condition, residents of nursing and older person homes, long-stay facilities, those with disabilities, and people who have regular contact with pig, poultry, or waterfowl,” reports Breaking News.
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