James Cox
61 further Covid-19 related deaths and 2,488 additional cases have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland.
Of the deaths reported today, 58 deaths occurred in January.
The median age of those who died was 83 years and the age range was 41-100.
There has now been a total of 2,768 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland.
95 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Waterford. It brings our 14-day incidence rate to 1,792 per 100,000 people. Waterford now has the second-highest incidence rate in the country despite the rate falling for the third day in a row.
As of midnight Tuesday, January 19th, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has been notified of 2,488 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 179,324 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
Of the cases notified today:
- 1,090 are men/1,383 are women.
- 51 per cent are under 45 years of age.
- The median age is 44 years old.
- 726 are in Dublin, 314 in Cork, 148 in Galway, 133 in Limerick, 130 in Meath and the remaining 1,037 cases are spread across all other counties.
As of 2pm today, 1,923 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 210 were in ICU at 11am. 85 additional Covid-19 patients have been reported in Irish hospitals in the past 24 hours.
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “The number of cases and deaths that we are reporting today and the persisting high incidence rate of Covid-19 across the country shows that we cannot underestimate the highly infectious nature of this disease and the impact that it can have on families and communities.
“The virus spreads through close contacts, through the congregation of people. We need everyone to stay at home as much as possible, and to work from home, where possible. You should not meet up with friends or loved ones, unless you are caring for them. If you go out for exercise, you need to stay within 5km from your home, wear a face covering where appropriate and wash your hands when you return home to protect yourself from infection."
“If you are Covid positive you should self-isolate and stay at home, in your room, avoiding contact with other people. This is to protect the other people that you live with,” Dr Holohan added.
Meanwhile, the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to protect against Covid-19 will arrive in the Republic no sooner than mid-February, the Taoiseach has said.
The timeline assumes that the vaccine is approved for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) at the end of January.
Following the vaccine’s approval, Micheál Martin said it will take a further number of weeks for deliveries to reach the Republic.
“We have a much more comprehensive and detailed plan in terms of ramping up then the volume for the next phase (of a vaccine rollout),” he said.
“Particularly after the authorisation, hoping that’ll go well, of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which should be on the 29th from the European Medicines Agency, and then for delivery in their timeline for mid-February.”
