A MAN in the east of the country with an underlying health condition has died bringing the number of deaths from coronavirus in Ireland to seven.
Another 204 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed today, and the total in Ireland now stands at 1,329 confirmed cases.
Steps are being taken now to prevent the spread of the virus by identifying any contacts the patients may have had to give them relevant advice.
Testing
Drive-through testing centres have been set-up in Kilkenny and Carlow and around the country 17,992 tests have been carried out in labs nationwide.
The latest information reveals of the confirmed cases:
- 55% are male and 45% are female, with 44 clusters involving 243 cases
- Median age 45 years
- 277 cases (29%) have been hospitalised
- Of those hospitalised, 36 cases have been admitted to ICU
- 247 cases (26%) are associated with healthcare workers
- Dublin has the highest number of cases at 535, (55% of all cases) followed by Cork with 123 cases (13%)
- Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 47%, close contact accounts for 23%, travel abroad accounts for 31%
The Department of Health has today launched a new COVID-19 Information Dashboard; providing up to date case information – gov.ie/covid19Dashboard
New restrictions
The National Public Health Emergency Team have made new recommendations which have been adopted by the Government.
Earlier Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the measures which you can read about here.
One of these changes is that Ireland has adopted the World Health Organisation case definition for COVID-19; A patient with fever and at least one sign of respiratory disease e.g. cough, shortness of breath.
Crucial Weeks of Response
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “We are now in the crucial weeks of our response to COVID-19… As we learn more about this disease, we are prioritising who will be tested. If you are not in a priority group, you might not be tested. However, if you have the symptoms, assume you have COVID-19 and isolate yourself.”
