Over 6,000 Confirmed Cases As 25 More Deaths Are Announced

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has announced a further 25 with COVID-19 have died.

The breakdown of which includes....

• 13 deaths located in the east, 8 in the north, 2 in the south and 2 in the west.
• The people included 10 females and 15 males
• The median age of today’s reported deaths is 80.
• 18 people were reported as having underlying health conditions

There have now been 235 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has been informed of 365 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland, as at 1pm, 8th April.

There are now 6,074 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.  Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, 6th April (5,981 cases), reveals:

• 46% are male and 53% are female, with 299 clusters involving 1,288 cases.
• The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years.
• 1,472 cases (25%) have been hospitalised.
• Of those hospitalised, 224 cases have been admitted to ICU.
• 1,568 cases are associated with healthcare workers.
• Dublin has the highest number of cases at 3,268, (55% of all cases) followed by Cork with 431 cases (7%).
• Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 67%, close contact accounts for 23%, travel abroad accounts for 10%

The National Public Health Emergency Team noted today’s guidance from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) that the risk of severe disease associated with COVID-19 in the EU and UK is considered moderate for the general population and very high for vulnerable groups.

The ECDC also advised that it is currently too early to start lifting community and physical distancing measures and that Member States should continue to adopt a public health based approach of testing and contact tracing.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “Ireland continues to follow ECDC guidance with regards to testing, contact tracing and the implementation of community measures such as physical distancing and cocooning. This is the most effective way we have of slowing down the spread of this virus and saving lives.
“Our public health guidance is under constant review and the National Public Health Emergency Team will meet again on Friday morning to review the impact of ongoing measures.”

Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “The ECDC has said that the probability of continued spread of COVID-19 is very high. The risk of exceeding the capacity of the health system remains high even in countries like Ireland where significant public health restrictions have been put in place.

“It is for these reasons that we continue to ask people to stay at home and to follow public health advice. While we know these measures are difficult especially as we approach a sunny, bank holiday weekend, the efforts we are seeing from the public are having an impact and making a real difference.”