Ireland’s death toll from Coronavirus has risen to 530 with a further 44 deaths, a further 709 cases have been confirmed, seventeen of which are in Co Clare.
Department of Health officials have confirmed 44 more people diagnosed with COVID-19 have died. The geographic details provided have outlined that 33 were located in the east, 5 were in the west, 3 in the north west and 3 in the south. They were 25 males and 19 females.
Of the total 530 deaths in the Republic, 58% were male and 42% female. Their age range is from 23-105 with the median age reported as 83. 316 of these cases were admitted to hospital with 45 admitted to ICU
13,980 individuals have been diagnosed with the virus as of 11:15am (today). 597 of cases were reported by Irish laboratories and 112 by German labs.
Co Clare has seen an increase of 17 cases now standing at 136. This is the largest daily increase recorded in the county since the Department of Health began providing detail on the amount of individuals diagnosed per county.
Wednesday’s 13,012 cases have been analysed by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. Their findings are that 2,723 stem from 436 clusters. Where transmission status is known, the majority is a result of community transmission (53%) followed by close contact (42%) and travel abroad (5%).
A meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team was held on Friday morning. They decided to expand testing capacity to 100,000 tests per week operating on a seven-day week basis for a minimum of six months.
Over the course of the next 7-10 days, testing of staff and residents in all Long-Term Residential Care (LTRC) facilities to be prioritised. A census of mortality across all LTRC facilities to be carried out this weekend to cover all deaths, COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 since 1st January 2020, regardless of where the death occurred.
Speaking at Friday’s press briefing, Dr Tony Holohan stated, “While we are suppressing the disease among the general public, we cannot afford to become complacent. To remain safe from COVID-19 we need to continue to wash our hands thoroughly and regularly, cough into our elbows and practice social distancing. These simple measures can slow down the spread of this virus and save lives.”
Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE, added, “Each COVID-19 death reported is a tragedy. This is an incurable illness and while 80% of the population will experience a mild form of the disease, our older and more vulnerable people are at a much greater risk due to the behaviour of this disease within this group.”
When asked on the chartering of flights to bring workers into the country, Dr Holohan stated it was “not consistent with the public health advice” issued by the NPHET. His comments were in relation to controversy surrounding Keelings.
Public health measures have been translated into over 20 languages, Dr Holohan confirmed.
