A total of 41 deaths and 9,213 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in Ireland over the latest weekly period.
Beginning this week, data relating to new cases and deaths will update just once weekly each Wednesday on the country’s official data hub.
The latest cases were recorded over the week from May 12th to May 18th through a combination of PCR and antigen tests.
While daily case figures no longer accurately capture the spread of the virus due to a major scaling down of the test and trace system, they still indicate that the country is experiencing just a fraction of the infections seen at the height of a surge driven by the Omicron variant two months ago.
At that time, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said under-reporting meant the true number of weekly cases was likely “several hundred thousand”.
Cases breakdown
In the latest weekly update, a total of 4,217 cases were confirmed by PCR test. 792 were recorded today on Wednesday, 404 on Tuesday, 663 on Monday, 188 on Sunday, 892 on Saturday, 524 on Friday and 754 on Thursday.
A total of 4,996 cases were identified through antigen tests registered on the HSE portal, with 842 logged today on Wednesday, 908 on Tuesday, 596 on Monday, 480 on Sunday, 593 on Saturday, 727 on Friday and 850 on Thursday.
A total of 35,704 PCR tests were carried out over the last seven days, with a positivity rate of 12.5 per cent.
41 deaths were notified over the same weekly period, bringing the total pandemic death toll in Ireland to 7,244.
Hospitalisations are currently at a fraction of the level seen during the latest surge of the virus, with 256 people in hospital with the virus as of this morning, including 24 in intensive care units.
More than three million booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines have now been administered in Ireland, while a total of 7.8 million primary doses have been administered since the launch of the vaccination programme.
