Dublin university professor: Rising Delta variant cases not a surprise

DUBLIN, Ireland - The Irish government should lift the Covid restrictions as planned, and the focus should remain on reducing the risks, a professor of immunology at Dublin City University has said while speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland.

Professor Christine Loscher described the recent increase in new Covid-19 cases as not surprising. It is because many restrictions have been eased, and people are mixing together more than before, she said.

The Department of Health reported Thursday that there were 2,066 new coronavirus cases, with 408 people in hospital, including 69 in intensive care units.

The professor said these reducing risk factors should include maintaining the need for Covid-19 vaccination certificates for indoor activities, emphasizing mask-wearing and hand sanitizing.

Loscher added that the Delta variant is difficult to control, and the change in weather conditions is forcing people to move indoors.

She said there is still a high number of unvaccinated people in Ireland, at around 370,000, despite the highest vaccination ratio in the EU.

"Everything we do is about mitigating risk. We can't get rid of Delta, and New Zealand has proven that," she said.

However, despite the high number of Covid cases, hospitalizations and death rates are not higher, which shows that the vaccine is working, she pointed out.