There have been 429 new cases of COVID-19 reported by the Department of Health today, along with one further death due to the coronavirus.
Of the cases reported today, 28 are in Galway, behind the numbers in Dublin, Cork, and Donegal
There have now been 36,155 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland, after validation of data by the HPSC resulted in the denotification of 14 cases.
The Coronavirus pandemic has claimed a total of 1,804 lives in the state.
“This evening there are 130 people with COVID-19 in hospital – 15 in the last 24 hours,” said Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer.
“Recently we asked everyone to half their social contacts. Reducing the number of people that we meet – and engaging safely with a small core group – remains the cornerstone of our collective effort to reduce the spread of this virus and its impact on our health and the health of the people that we care about.”
Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE said that community transmission is the “greatest threat” to patients and staff in hospitals and care facilities.
“When you are making plans to meet friends and socialise this week, take a minute to consider our healthcare workers, who have been at the frontline since the beginning of the pandemic, in hospitals, in nursing homes and in our homes, caring for those who are ill and those who are the most vulnerable to this highly infectious virus.”
Of the cases notified today:
- 203 are men and 226 are women
- 65% are under 45 years of age
- 45% are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
- 77 cases have been identified as community transmission
- 189 cases are in Dublin, 60 in Cork, 31 in Donegal, 28 in Galway, 18 in Kildare, 15 in Wicklow, 15 in Clare, 12 in Limerick, 9 in Meath, 8 in Louth, 7 in Cavan, 7 in Longford, 6 in Laois, 5 in Offaly, 5 in Westmeath, with the remaining 14 cases in 8 counties
The r number of the virus, the rate at which it is reproducing, now stands at between 1.2 and 1.4 said Professor Phillip Nolan of the the NPHET epidemiological modelling advisory group.
This means that every person infected is passing it on to an average of more than one person, so numbers are growing.
The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.
Dr Breda Smyth, Director of Public Health, HSE West said “I am asking people of all ages to play their part to suppress this virus. It is important for everyone to stay connected, but you need to do this in a safe way, at a distance, and virtually as much as you can.
“If you have symptoms, stay at home, call your doctor to arrange for a test and let the people that you live with know about it as soon as possible.”
“If you find out that you are close contact, please come forward for testing. Remember that COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease that can have a devastating impact on your health at any age.”
