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Irish COVID-19 case numbers have stopped falling – health official – Metro US

Irish COVID-19 case numbers have stopped falling – health official

The spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dublin
The spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dublin

DUBLIN (Reuters) – COVID-19 case numbers in Ireland have stopped falling due to an increase in social mixing and attendance at workplaces, a senior health official said on Thursday.

A marginal decrease in social mixing could still reverse the trend, Ireland’s COVID-19 modelling chief, Philip Nolan told a press briefing after reporting 76.3 cases per 100,000 over the past seven days, one of the lowest infection rates in Europe.

The reproduction number, which measures the number of people who become infected from each positive case, is between 0.8 and 1.1 and in all likelihood close to 1, Nolan said.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries)