A FURTHER 769 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 two new deaths had been reported.

The total number of confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland is now 230,599. There have been a total of 4,587 deaths related to Covid-19 here to date.

Of the cases notified today:

• 381 are men / 378 are women
• 75% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 32 years old
• 284 in Dublin, 67 in Donegal, 47 in Offaly, 45 in Meath, 44 in Kildare, and the remaining 282 cases are spread across 20 other counties. **

As of 8am today, 360 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 82 are in ICU. There are 19 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of March 18, 654,251 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Ireland with 478,725 people having received their first dose and 175,526 people having received their second dose.