Coronavirus: HSE chief 'cannot dispute' forecast of 1.9m people falling ill in Ireland
Coronavirus: HSE chief ‘cannot dispute’ forecast of 1.9m people falling ill
Number of cases recorded across island rises to 26, with most linked to travel to Italy
The Irish Times
6am est
By Martin Wall
The health service cannot dispute cannot dispute reported projections that up to 1.9 million people could become sick as a result of contracting the coronavirus, the HSE chief executive has said.
However, Paul Reid said modelling work on how the Covid-19 outbreak could impact the country would not be completed until later in the week.
The Business Post reported on Sunday that health authorities were forecasting that about 40 per cent of the population could become sick as a result of the virus. Mr Reid said he could not dispute these figures, but said the work was not yet concluded and the evidence was changing day by day.
To date there have been 19 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the State, with the latest involving a man in the east of Ireland who had travelled from Italy. Much of northern Italy has been put in a state of quarantine as a result of the outbreak there. The measures, which are due to be in place for a month, are expected to affect some 16 million people. There have been seven confirmed cases in Northern Ireland to date.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/coronavirus-hse-chief-cannot-dispute-forecast-of-1-9m-people-falling-ill-1.4196613