Another 63 deaths reported today

A further 63 deaths from Covid-19 have were confirmed by health officials this evening along with 3,569 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

It brings to 2,460 the number of deaths from Covid-19 in Ireland to date. A total of 159,144 cases have now been confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic.

A total 73 new cases were reported in Meath today.

The number of hospitalisations due to Covid-19 is now double the peak of April 2020.

As of 2pm, 1,770 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 172 are in ICU. There have been 133 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Of the cases notified today:

1,616 are men and 1,924 are women

54% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 42 years old

1,119 are in Dublin, 416 in Cork, 200 in Galway, 182 in Louth, 169 in Waterford, and the remaining 1,483 cases are spread across all other counties.

Chief medical officer Tony Holohan said we are seeing some early signs of progress with daily cases numbers and positivity rates.

“We can take some hope in them, but we have a long, long way to go. In the coming weeks ahead, we will need to draw upon our reserves of resilience from springtime as we can expect to see hospitalisations, admissions to ICU and mortality related to Covid-19 increase day on day.

“At this challenging time, it is important to remind those that need acute care that hospitals are there for those that need them. No one should ignore any worrying signs they may need medical attention, such as lumps, chest pain or other new symptoms. Phone your GP if you have any concerns, not just those related to Covid-19.”