A FURTHER 744 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has said this evening.

In a statement, it said that a further 33 people confirmed to have Covid-19 have died. It was confirmed that 31 of these deaths occured in February and two in January. 

The median age of those who died was 81 years and the age range was 42 to 105. 

The death toll from Covid-19 in Ireland is 3,980, and the total number of confirmed cases is now at 211,113.

Of the cases notified today: 

• 373 are male, 366 are female
• 68% are under the age of 45
• The median age is 31
• 301 cases are in Dublin, 77 are in Galway, 37 are in Waterford, 36 are in Offaly, 32 are in Kildare and the remaining 261 cases are spread across all other counties. 

As of 8am today, 861 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 159 are in ICU. There have been 51 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. 

As of 13 February, 268,551 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland. 176,926 people have received their first dose and 91,625 people have received their second dose.

In a letter to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly on 11 February, published today, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said NPHET’s model projections show that if Ireland can maintain a reproduction number between 0.5 and 0.9 for the coming weeks, “we remain on track to have 200-400 cases per day by 1 March 2021, and 100-300 cases per day by 15 March 2021″. 

“The latter projections are contingent on and emphasise the importance of keeping transmission as low as possible for as long as possible,” he said. 

With reporting by Sean Murray