*Photograph: John Mangan
Six new cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in Co Clare while 650 additional cases are known nationally along with 57 additional deaths.
Clare’s 14 day incidence rate per 100k of the population (142.2) is the fourth lowest in the country. An additional six cases have been reported in Clare.
Across the country, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) have stated 650 extra cases have been confirmed with 192 in Dublin, 53 in Galway, 50 in Meath, 46 in Kildare, 46 in Cork and the remaining 263 cases are spread across 19 other counties. 65 percent of the cases are in persons aged under 45.
Notification has been issued to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) of 57 more deaths, 34 of these occurred in February, 21 in January, 1 in December and 1 in November. The median age of those who died was 82 years and the age range was 52-99 years.
Data from 8am on Wednesday has outlined that 154 persons are in critical care because of the virus, the figure is included in the total amount of 831 individuals in hospital classed as COVID-19 patients. 49 additional hospitalisations were noted in the past 24 hours.
271,942 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the Ireland as of Sunday.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn described the current situation as “precarious”. He stated, “Almost 90% of cases in Ireland are the B117 variant. The increased transmissibility of this variant is apparent in the current profile of the disease in households, with one in three household contacts of a confirmed case testing positive for COVID-19. This underlines the need for people to exercise caution in households and other settings. In particular, people should isolate immediately on experiencing any symptoms and contact their GP.”
