Kenneth Fox
A further two deaths and an additional 514 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed this evening by the Department of Health.
There has now been a total of 4,921 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland. Also, with 514 new cases this evening, it means there has now been a total of 252,809 confirmed cases of the virus in the State.
The Department said of the cases notified today: 259 are men and 248 are women, 75 per cent are under 45 years of age and the median age is 28 years old.
They said as of 8am today, 116 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised and a further 31 are in ICU. There have been 11 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours as well.
Regarding the vaccine rollout, a total of 1,799,190 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland, as of May 7th.
This includes 1,305,178 people who have received their first dose and 494,012 people who have received their second dose.
The figures come as EU member states said they are aiming to agree on a system for digital vaccine certificates for international travel by June 21st, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said.
Some member states will begin using the system to ease restrictions surrounding non-essential travel, according to The Irish Times, however, others may wait until August following an agreement there would be a six-week period to introduce the new initiative.
Following a meeting of EU leaders, Mr Rutte said: "This timetable now would be that we all hope that by the 21st of June...there is an agreement.”
He also said the Netherlands would introduce the system “as quickly as possible after that date.”
