A FURTHER 437 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 also confirmed there were no new deaths of people with Covid-19.

The death toll from Covid-19 in Ireland is now 4,422, and the total number of confirmed cases of the virus is 223,651*.

Of the cases notified today:

• 216 are men and 218 are women
• 71% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 34 years old
• 184 cases were confirmed in Dublin, 31 in Limerick, 26 in Donegal, 20 in Galway, 18 in Offaly and the remaining 158 cases are spread across all other counties

As of 8am today, 418 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 103 are in ICU. 20 additional hospitalisations occurred in the past 24 hours.

As of 5 March, 513,322 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

• 363,601 people have received their first dose
• 149,721 people have received their second dose

‘Very high’ compliance

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, said compliance with the key public health measures remains “very high”, according to the latest NPHET/Amárach research – 93% of people say they wash their hands regularly, 95% use hand sanitiser, and 93% social-distance while in a queue.

“While levels of anxiety (36%) and boredom (38%) are understandably high, it is encouraging to see that a sense of hope continues to rise across the population with 48% of people reporting that they feel the worst of the pandemic is behind us,” Glynn said.

He added that people’s hope is “justified in the context of the continued improvement in the key indicators of the disease and with the ongoing rollout of the vaccination programme over the coming weeks”.

“However, it is vital that this hope does not give way to complacency; across Europe countries are seeing a deteriorating picture and our own disease incidence remains high – we must do all we can to continue to suppress this virus and to ensure that as many people as possible get to benefit from vaccination over the coming months.”

Misinformation

Dr Cliona Murphy, Chair of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, also spoke at tonight’s briefing.

She said NPHET is aware of misinformation being shared about the Covid-19 vaccine and fertility.

“We recommend that everyone of reproductive age should take the Covid-19 vaccine as it becomes available.

“We are aware of misinformation about risks associated with taking Covid-19 vaccines and an impact on fertility. There is no evidence that taking any of the Covid-19 vaccines affects a woman’s future ability to conceive, or to continue a pregnancy,” Murphy said.

*Validation of data by the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of five cases of Covid-19, the figure of 223,651 confirmed cases reflects this