A third of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital or ICU this month have been under 65, according to the Deputy Chief Medical Officer.
Dr Ronan Glynn says this shows the virus affects people of all ages, and health conditions.
46 Covid-related deaths were confirmed yesterday (Tuesday) – and chief medical officer Tony Holohan says these figures will likely continue for the next period of time.
(3,086 new cases of the disease were also confirmed on Tuesday evening- with 26 of those in Carlow and 20 in Kilkenny, as reported here)
Professor Cliona Ní Cheallaigh, a consultant in infectious diseases in St James’s Hospital in Dublin, says it’s not just elderly people who are dying with Covid;
“I’ve had patients in their early 70’s die with Covid-19 on the wards. Very young people with the virus who get sick tend to go to intensive care and die there, rather than on the wards, so I wouldn’t necessarily be aware of their deaths. But yes, some of them are very young. Even some of them who were advanced in years were still leading very active and fulfilling lives.”