An additional 65 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Co Clare among the 3,394 nationally.
Under-reporting of cases had previously been flagged by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) with the numbers announced on Saturday evening indicative of this.
Latest hospital data from 2pm on Saturday has highlighted there to be 607 COVID-19 patients of which 56 are in ICUs. Over the past 24 hours, 71 hospitalisations were recorded. The positivity rate in the Republic of Ireland is 21.9% on a day when the highest number of daily cases have been announced.
Clare’s 14 day incidence rate of the virus per 100k has jumped once again to 298.8. The announcement of 65 daily cases in the county is the highest figure since October 11th when there were 59 new cases alerted. Elsewhere, 389 cases are in Cork, 355 in Dublin, 339 in Donegal, 258 in Louth, 233 in Mayo and the remaining 1,755 cases are spread across all other counties.
Officials in the Health Protection Surveillance Centre have been notified of 4 additional deaths related to COVID-19. There has been a total of 2,252 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.
Spread of COVID-19 is as high as the peak in March of 2020, the Chief Medical Officer cautioned. “The incidence of COVID-19 is as high, if not higher now than it was in March. Every individual needs to act as if they are infectious. Hospitalisations are rising to levels close to what we saw in the springtime. Everyone needs to stay at home other than for essential work or care”.
Dr Tony Holohan added, “It is really important that vulnerable and older people do not leave their homes unless absolutely essential. This includes asking neighbours or family to carry out errands such as grocery shopping, limiting all contacts to only those people you live with or have to visit for essential care reasons.
“We need to rediscover the spirit of solidarity and community we saw in March and April so that we can all do our part in protecting older and vulnerable people. People particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 include older persons and people with pre-existing medical conditions including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer,” he explained.
