Eight further Covid-19 related deaths have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland along with an additional 330 confirmed cases.
There has been a total of 2,018 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland along with 69,802 confirmed cases.
Of the cases notified today:
- 171 are men / 155 are women
- 64 per cent are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 37 years old
- 99 are in Dublin, 28 in Cork, 26 in Louth, 25 in Meath, 21 in Donegal and the remaining 131 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
As of 2pm today 283 Covid-19 patients are being treated in hospital, of which 33 are in ICU. 13 additional Covid-19 patients have been reported in Irish hospitals in the last 24 hours.
The average 14-day incidence rate in the Republic of Ireland stands at 113.1.
Donegal's incidence rate is well above this, currently standing at 266.3. Limerick has the second worst 14-day incidence rate in the country, 217.
Meanwhile, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has warned that Ireland needs to make up for the time lost over the last week, when the decline of Covid-19 stalled.
Daily case numbers had been declining rapidly during the first three weeks of Level 5 restrictions, before stopping suddenly over the last seven days.
Speaking at last night's National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) briefing, Dr Holohan said: “In our objective to use a six-week period to drive down Covid-19 infection in the community, our progress has stalled in the last week.
“We now have two weeks to get back on track. Drive down the disease by limiting the number of daily contacts you have. Work from home, stay at home and follow public health advice to get us to a reproduction number below 0.5 by December 1st.”
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: “Deaths associated with Covid-19 have increased by 18 per cent in the European region over the past fortnight. Last week alone, Europe registered over 29,000 new deaths.
“That is one person dying every 17 seconds. We have made significant progress in Ireland over recent weeks, but the disease and its risks have not changed. Please continue in your efforts to follow public health advice, limit the transmission of Covid-19 in Ireland and protect those who are most vulnerable in our families and across our communities.”
