Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 September 2020
946. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health the locations in which his Department believes the increase in Covid-19 cases in County Wicklow is arising from, that is community transmission, foreign travel and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27123/20]
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 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 the disease 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 https://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/. The published data are based on official figures provided by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) and the Health Service Executive (HSE).
All datasets, charts and maps are updated on an on-going basis and in line with newly published data.
The Deputy may wish to note that the COVID-19 Data Hub now offers regularly updated Local Electoral Area (LEA) data. However, care is required to ensure patient confidentiality is preserved and that no potential identification of individual cases arises. As a result, the data relating to confirmed cases by LEA is published weekly on a Thursday, reflecting new cases notified in each LEA for the 14-day period up to midnight on the previous Monday.
The Deputy may also wish to note that a range of data on the epidemiology of Covid-19 in Ireland, including data on county incidence levels and trends in transmission, is published in the daily report by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) available at: https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/casesinireland/epidemiologyofcovid-19inireland , while a daily report on the last 14 days in cases available at: https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/casesinireland/epidemiologyofcovid-19inireland
