A FURTHER 683 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has said this evening.

In a statement, NPHET said that 18 new deaths had been reported. Of the deaths reported today, six occurred in March, seven in February and five in January.

The total number of confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland is now 232,164. There have been a total of 4,628 deaths related to Covid-19 here to date.

Of the cases notified today:

• 324 are men / 359 are women
• 75% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 32 years old
• 308 in Dublin, 68 in Donegal, 49 in Kildare, 35 in Meath, 30 in Offaly and the remaining 193 cases are spread across 21 other counties.

As of 8am today, 329 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised. A total of 76 of these patients are in intensive care units. There has been 18 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of Sunday 21 March, 680,015 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

• 495,824 people have received their first dose
• 184,191 people have received their second dose

The vast majority (77.3%) of people have received the Pfizer vaccine. A total of 19.5% of people have received the AstraZeneca jab and 3.2% have received the Moderna shot.