The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has confirmed 23 further deaths and 921 new cases of Covid-19 in the Republic.
21 of these deaths occurred in February and two occurred in January. The median age of those who died was 84 years old, with ages ranging from 57 to 95 years old.
Of the cases reported on Friday, 66 per cent are under 45 years of age.
There are 414 cases located in Dublin, 87 in Cork, 51 in Kildare, 48 in Limerick and 47 in Meath. The remaining 274 cases are spread across all other counties.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, said: “We have made progress in Ireland over recent weeks, but the rate of transmission of the disease is still extremely high and the risks Covid-19 poses to our vulnerable loved ones have not changed.
“Everyone is working hard to drive down Covid-19 infection in the community, and we must all continue to limit the number of daily contacts we have.
“The only way to limit the spread of Covid-19 is to limit our social contacts and follow the public health advice, wash our hands, maintain a social distance, wear a face covering where appropriate, work from home and stay at home.”
As of 8am today, there were 959 Covid-19 patients hospitalised, including 173 in intensive care units (ICU). 53 additional hospitalisations were seen over the past 24 hours.
As of February 9th, some 248,284 doses of a Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland.
It comes as the chair of Nphet’s epidemiological modelling advisory group, Professor Philip Nolan, warned that it could be more than six weeks before the number of Covid-19 cases drops to fewer than 100 a day.
Ireland should be at around 200 to 400 cases a day heading into March and approaching 100 to 200 cases a day by the end of March, he said.
In an update on the State’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout on Friday, the HSE’s chief clinical officer said 40,000 second doses will be administered next week.
Dr Colm Henry said the vaccination rollout in nursing homes is “almost complete” and defended its pace.
“We’re dishing it out as quickly as we get it in,” he said.
Meanwhile on Friday, the Health Minister confirmed a list of “high-risk” countries for Covid-19 from which arrivals will shortly face a mandatory 14-day period of quarantine at a designated facility.
