PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS have confirmed 1,110 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

The Department of Health has reported that 89 patients with Covid-19 are in hospital today, including 21 people in ICU.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, said almost 7,700 cases of the coronavirus disease have been notified in the last seven days, an increase of 88% on the previous week.

Incidence rates have increased in every county over the past seven days. The counties with the highest 14-day incidence rates are:

• Donegal (725 cases per 100,000 population),
• Louth (474 cases per 100,000 population),
• Dublin (307 cases per 100,000 population),
• Limerick (258 cases per 100,000),
• Galway (257 cases per 100,000).

“During this spell of fine weather, we know that the vast majority of people are continuing to protect themselves and others by following the public health advice,” Dr Glynn said.

This remains really important as we seek to protect as many people as possible through vaccination over the coming weeks.

Yesterday, 1,071 cases of Covid-19 were reported, with 101 patients with the illness in hospital, 20 of whom were in intensive care. 

Data relating to the number of deaths associated with Covid-19, as well as case numbers by county, have been affected by the cyber attack on the HSE IT systems.

Today’s figures did not contain any information about whether there were any other deaths due to the virus. 

Dr Glynn added that Covid-19 vaccines are are extraordinarily effective at reducing each person’s individual risk of hospitalisation or severe disease.

“Vaccines along with the core public health advice remain our pathway out of this pandemic – please avail of the opportunity to get protected through vaccination when it is offered to you,” he said.