'Work from home where possible', advises Deputy Chief Medical Officer as cases continue to rise

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn has advised people to work from home where possible as Ireland moves into the autumn and winter period.

Dr. Glynn said that with "vast parts of society open" people are now mixing and interacting on a scale "far greater than at any point in the pandemic to date".

This comes as restrictions on returning to the workplace were supposed to be lifted next Friday, October 22.

In a video address, the deputy CMO said this gives viruses such as Covid-19 and the flu a chance to circulate, and people should continue to wash their hands and not meet up with other people if they have any symptoms.

With almost 20,000 cases in the last fortnight, incidence of #COVID19 is increasing.

However, there is much we can do to protect ourselves & one another; get vaccinated; isolate & get tested if symptomatic (even if vaccinated); wear a mask; meet outdoors; ventilate indoor spaces pic.twitter.com/6UQ26QQJMl

— Dr Ronan Glynn (@ronan_glynn) October 15, 2021

"A key message to people who have been vaccinated is to not disregard all of the other basic measures that we've been talking about for so long now.

"So let's continue to wash our hands regularly, let’s ensure that we don’t meet up with other people and socialise if we've got symptoms, and let's work from home where possible over this autumn and winter", he added.

Dr. Glynn said they are seeing increasing incidences of Covid-19 across most age groups, with the median age of cases increasing from the mid 20s to 36 years of age and they are seeing an average of five admissions to ICU a day.

He said the reality is that 370,000 adults have not come forward for vaccination or have only come forward for the first in a two-dose schedule, and these people are now vulnerable to Covid-19.

A phased return to the workplace has been in place since September 20.