Department confirms a further seven deaths from Covid-19

Health officials have reported seven new deaths of people with Covid-19 and 418 new cases of the virus, 22 of those in Meath.

There are 137 people with Covid-19 being treated in hospitals around the country, with 37 of these in intensive care units.

The median age of those who died was 82 years and the age range was 67-92 years.

This now brings the total Covid-19 death toll in Ireland to 4,915 and the total number of confirmed cases to 251,087.

As of last Monday (3rd May) there have been 1,621,870 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered in Ireland: 1,174,292 people have received their first dose and 447,578 people have received their second dose

Of the cases notified today:

199 are men / 214 are women

73% are under 45 years of age

The median age is 30 years old

167 are in Dublin, 39 in Cork, 32 in Donegal, 29 in Kildare, 22 in Meath and the remaining 129 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, said: “As we look forward to the greater reopening of activities and services, our key objective now is to maintain our course in coming weeks and follow the public health advice in our daily activities.

“When you are planning to meet someone, remember that outdoors is safer for everybody. And when you meet up, stay at a 2m distance, keep to a small group and avoid crowded areas – this will minimise the risk of passing the virus from person to person, driving down the incidence rate and keeping our society open.

“Throughout this pandemic we have seen outbreaks and clusters of disease as a result of social events such as funerals, wakes and birthday parties. Unfortunately, we need to continue to stay vigilant to the infectious nature of this disease and avoid congregating together in large groups. We need all sectors of society to continue to encourage and support the public health messages and to help everyone to stay safe.”