A further 821 new cases of Covid-19

There was good news at this evening's briefing by the National Public Health Emergency Team when no Covid-19 related deaths were reported - the first day without deaths since 6th December.

A further 821 new cases of Covid-19, 38 of them in Meath were confirmed this evening.

The death toll from Covid-19 in Ireland is now 3,948, and the total number of confirmed cases is now 210,402.

Of the cases notified today, 70 per cent are under 45 years of age.

There were 333 cases in Dublin, 91 in Galway, 53 in Limerick, 41 in Kildare, 38 in Meath and the remaining 265 cases are spread across all other counties.

As of 8am today, 916 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 157 are in ICU. There have been 40 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said that the positivity rate of cases – currently at 6 per cent – is still too high.

As of Friday 12th February, 265,237 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

175,238 people have received their first dose.

89,999 people have received their second dose.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: “With the commencement of vaccination of people aged over 85 in the community, today marks a significant milestone as we seek to protect the most vulnerable from this pandemic.

"It is an extraordinary testament to science that less than one year since our first case in Ireland, we are now in the process of rolling out three effective vaccines. The challenge now is to continue to suppress this disease so that as many people as possible can benefit from these vaccines over the coming months."