Covid risk index remains in level four bracket

The national Covid-19 risk index stood at 69 out of a hundred, placing it in the bracket for the fourth of five levels, on Monday. It has now been in this bracket for almost two weeks.

However, restrictions corresponding to level five – introduced in late December – remain in place, with the government unwilling to relax them until the number of Covid patients in the country’s hospitals falls below 3,000. Over 5,600 people are currently in hospital with the virus. The number of critical patients would also need to more than halve for restrictions to be loosened.

In addition the Covid reproduction number has been rising for eight days and now stands at 0.9.