A FURTHER 566 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 25 people confirmed to have Covid-19 have died.

The death toll from Covid-19 in Ireland is 4,357, and the total number of confirmed cases is now at 221,189.

Of the cases notified today:

• 280 are men / 284 are female
• 68% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 34 years old
• 233 in Dublin, 37 in Kildare, 30 in Meath, 25 in Donegal, 24 in Westmeath and the remaining 217 cases are spread across all other counties.

As of 8am today, 489 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 114 are in ICU. There were 29 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

A statement from the department says that, as of 28 February, 439,782 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Ireland:

•  297,899 people have received their first dose
• 141,883 people have received their second dose

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “Through the hard work and sacrifice of the vast majority of people, key disease indicators continue on a positive trajectory.

“However, we are still seeing outbreaks in the community, including those linked to extended families, workplaces and funerals. We need to keep up our guard against the B117 variant of COVID-19, which we know is dominant in Ireland at present and highly transmissible.

“Our willingness to stick with the public health advice in our daily routine has brought us the progress that we can see today. Together, through staying at home as much as possible, social distancing, hand washing and wearing face coverings, we can continue to drive down the spread of Covid-19.”