First death relating to Covid-19 recorded in Ireland

Chief Medical Officer with the Department of Health, Dr Tony Holohan has expressed his sympathy to the family and friends of the patient recorded as the first death relating to COVID-19 in Ireland.

The woman with an underlying illness who contracted Covid-19 died in the east of the country.

She was being treated in hospital. It is the first death of a patient in Ireland who had an illness and had also been infected.

"I urge the media and the public to respect their privacy at this difficult time." said Dr Holohan.

"We continue our efforts to interrupt the transmission of this virus. It will take all of us, collectively to succeed. Please continue to follow public health advice."

Meanwhile, the chief of the World Health Organisation has said Covid-19 'can be characterised as a pandemic'.
There are now over 118,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, in 114 countries around the world.

The WHO continues to closely monitoring spread of the virus, said Tedros Adhanom, director general of the WHO, during the announcement. “We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction,” he said. “We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action.”