'We're not out of the woods yet' - Ireland still has work to do in the fight against Covid-19, says HSE chief
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'We're not out of the woods yet' - Ireland still has work to do in the fight against Covid-19, says HSE chief

IRELAND should guard against complacency in the fight against Covid-19, despite the good progress being made with the country's vaccination roll-out, according to the Health Service Executive (HSE).

Director-General Paul Reid says that while Covid-19 infection rates are dropping all over the country, Ireland isn't "out of the woods yet".

Speaking in the Oireachtas on Monday evening, Mr Reid said: "We are coming out of a very challenging period, although we're not out of the woods yet.

"While we know it has been extremely difficult for everyone, we are asking the public to stick with us over the coming weeks and continue to follow the public health guidance to help suppress the spread of the virus.

"The virus and its impacts on society remain largely unpredictable, and as such the need for proactive monitoring and agile planning will always be a feature of our response."

Mr Reid added that while all major indicators of the virus are now trending downwards, health officials across the country "remain alert to the impact of new variants of Covid-19."

As of the end of last week, over 513,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland.

It represents light at the end of the tunnel for many after a long year of on again off again lockdown, but the powers that be are keen to insist, the job isn't over yet.