One further Covid-19 related death and 520 additional cases have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland today.
There has now been a total of 4,588 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland.
As of midnight, Sunday, March 21st, the Heath Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has been notified of 520 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 231,119 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
Of the cases notified today:
- 258 are men/262 are women.
- 79 per cent are under 45 years of age.
- The median age is 28 years old.
- 242 cases in Dublin, 36 in Meath, 30 in Offaly, 29 in Kildare, 25 in Wicklow and the remaining 158 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
As of 8am today, 359 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 81 are in ICU. 14 additional Covid-19 cases have been recorded in Irish hospitals in the past 24 hours.
As of March 19th, 668,529 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:
- 487,466 people have received their first dose.
- 181,063 people have received their second dose.
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: “It is a very welcome development to see new visitation guidance for nursing homes coming into effect from today. As we begin to experience the benefits of vaccination, it is a reminder of what we are collectively working towards, a vaccination rollout that, along with our other protective measures, will end this pandemic.
“People have worked exceptionally hard over the past three months to reduce transmission in our communities. We have shown time and again that we can act collectively to protect one another. Please keep this going over the coming weeks.”
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group said: “For the week of the 7th-13th of March, 60 per cent of disease incidence is taking place through close contact transmission and 24 per cent in the community. 59 per cent of transmissions are occurring in households. Outside of the household, almost half of transmissions are occurring in social gatherings and the workplace.”
Dr Cillian de Gascun, Medical Virologist and Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said: “The B117 variant, Ireland’s most dominant variant of Covid-19 accounts for more than 90 per cent of our cases and is extremely transmissible. Public health advice aims to limit the opportunities this virus has to spread, and it should be noted that B117 does not need much opportunity to do so. The most effective way to stop the spread of this variant and all variants of Covid-19 is to limit your social contacts and follow public health advice.”
