News

Covid: 381 cases confirmed amid concern over Limerick spike

Covid: 381 cases confirmed amid concern over Limerick spike
Share this article

A further 381 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet).

There are 110 patients with the virus in hospital, including 42 in intensive care.

Data on deaths continues to be unavailable due to the cyberattack on the health service.

Advertisement

In Northern Ireland on Saturday, there were 82 positive cases but no deaths linked to the virus reported in the past 24 hours.

A total of 1,616,351 Covid vaccines have been administered in the region as of Saturday.

Advertisement

In the Republic, HSE chief executive Paul Reid said about 45 per cent of adults have now had their first dose of a vaccine.

Around 290,000 doses were administered last week, with one million in total expected to be delivered in May.

People aged 46 can now register for a vaccine, with those aged 45 encouraged to book an appointment from Sunday.

Covid spike

Meanwhile, Department of Public Health officials in the mid-west have expressed “serious concerns over a rapid increase in Covid-19 cases in Limerick”, which have been linked to social gatherings over the past two weeks.

On Saturday, junior education minister and Limerick TD Niall Collins said it is “too early” to consider local lockdowns for the area following the spike in cases.

He said he did not envisage such a response but that it is one of the options “if necessary”.

It comes as six countries have been removed from Ireland’s mandatory hotel quarantine list.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirmed that Andorra, Georgia, Kuwait, Mongolia, Nigeria and Puerto Rico are no longer deemed “high-risk” states as of Saturday.

The update see the list shrink again following the removal last weekend of Bermuda, Iran, Montenegro, Palestine and Serbia.

Share this article
Advertisement