Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 July 2020
1033. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the breakdown of new Covid-19 cases; the percentage of new cases with serious symptoms; the percentage of those new cases who have lost the sense of smell; the age breakdown and demographics for new cases in three-week intervals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18856/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) met for the first time, a commitment was given to collect and publish as much relevant data as possible while ensuring individual patient confidentiality is maintained at all times. While the nature and scale of the Covid-19 pandemic has been unprecedented, the collection of timely and comprehensive data has underpinned the efforts of the public health response to Covid-19 and has been instrumental in developing the health service response to Covid-19 and to the advice provided by NPHET and the Department of Health to assist Government decision-making in the wider response to Covid-19 in Ireland.
Comprehensive national statistics, information and data about Covid-19, including a timeline of confirmed cases by date, is published on a daily basis on the Department of Health website at www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-health/ and on the Covid-19 Data Hub and Dashboards available at https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/. Datasets, charts and maps are updated on an on-going basis and in line with newly published data. The published data are based on official figures provided by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) and the Health Service Executive (HSE).
A daily Epidemiology of COVID-19 in Ireland report is published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) available at https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/casesinireland/epidemiologyofcovid-19inireland. This report provides comprehensive information relating to Covid-19 cases arising in Ireland. The HPSC also publishes reports on underlying conditions in confirmed cases of COVID-19 available at https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/surveillance/underlyingconditionsreports/ and reports relating to cases in healthcare workers available at https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/surveillance/covid-19casesinhealthcareworkers/.
I would also direct the Deputy to the CSO website for access to a range of data relating to Covid-19. This is available on the CSO Covid-19 Information Hub at www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-covid19/covid-19informationhub/health/. This includes a range of data reporting on demographic information including age breakdowns, locations and other relevant information of those affected by Covid-19. It is not possible to report on specific symptoms such as anosmia at the point in time of a Covid-19 test being performed, as testing is primarily a laboratory diagnostic process rather than indicative of the symptoms that prompted a GP or other relevant health practitioner to refer a patient for a test.
The Deputy may wish to note that the data published to date is made available in a timely and comprehensive manner to inform the Department and wider Government response but also to ensure the public are kept informed to the greatest extent possible. There is also ongoing collaboration between my Department, the HPSC, the HSE, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, the CSO, Ordnance Survey Ireland and many other institutions and agencies to improve the data collected and the availability of it on an ongoing basis. I would like to assure the Deputy of my Department's ongoing commitment to publish as much Covid-19 data on an ongoing basis as is practicable, relevant and appropriate.
