5 positive Covid-19 statistics to keep you going this week

The last two weeks have seen a number of improvements to the national Covid-19 situation

The news of a second national lockdown earlier this year was a tough pill for many to swallow. After our efforts in March to flatten the curve, we enjoyed a summer of looser restrictions before having to face another period away from friends, family and many of the activities that have helped us to feel normal. But while the news was frustrating and frightening, now that these restrictions have begun to take effect, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Over the past two weeks, Ireland has seen a number of positive improvements to our Covid-19 statistics. Our efforts are making a difference in once again flattening the curve of Covid-19. If you’ve been finding it tough to make it through each week, here are some heartening stats to keep in mind as we move towards December.

Yesterday marked a 29% drop week-on-week in new Covid cases

Yesterday, the Republic recorded 270 new Covid-19 cases, and one new death. This marked a 29% drop in week-on-week cases since the previous Monday; last week recorded 4940 cases, this week marked 3500. This drop followed a 31% drop in new cases from the week before.

Ireland’s 14-day incidence rate is now 161 cases per 100,000

This number ranks us at 28 out of 31 European countries. Only Estonia, Finland and Norway have smaller 14-day incidence rates.

Last week, the 19 to 24-year-old age group saw a dramatic reduction in incidence rates

The young people of Ireland have halved their contacts in the last five weeks, and as a result, saw their 14-day incidence rates reduce from 450 per 100,000 to 150 per 100,000 in two weeks.

On October 30, NPHET reported our reproduction number as being ‘one or just below one’

A virus’s reproduction number indicates how contagious it is. Ireland’s number now lying at one or below one means that each existing infection causes one new infection or less. If a reproduction number remains below one, a virus will continue to decline until it eventually dies out.

Pfizer’s vaccine showed a 90% efficacy in preventing Covid-19

While we all need to continue our efforts in stopping the spread of Covid-19, yesterday saw some good news on the vaccine front. A vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has shown to be 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 infections. This has far exceeded projections from experts, who predicted a 50%-60% efficacy rate. Pfizer has said they expect to supply up to 50 million vaccine doses globally in 2020, and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021, subject to government approval.