Variants and Various Outbreaks Continue To Underpin High Numbers

A further 25 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported today along with 566 confirmed cases.

Five of those deaths occurred in March,  thirteen occurred in February while six also occurred in January or earlier.

The official death toll from covid-19 now stand at 4,357 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

• 280 are men / 284 are female
• 68% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 34 years old
• 233 in Dublin, 37 in Kildare, 30 in Meath, 25 in Donegal, 24 in Westmeath and the remaining 217 cases are spread across all other counties.

As of 8am today, 489 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 114 are in ICU. 29 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of 28^th February, 439,782 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

• 297,899 people have received their first dose
• 141,883 people have received their second dose

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “Through the hard work and sacrifice of the vast majority of people, key disease indicators continue on a positive trajectory. However, we are still seeing outbreaks in the community, including those linked to extended families, workplaces and funerals. We need to keep up our guard against the B117 variant of COVID-19, which we know is dominant in Ireland at present and highly transmissible.

“Our willingness to stick with the public health advice in our daily routine has brought us the progress that we can see today. Together, through staying at home as much as possible, social distancing, hand washing and wearing face coverings, we can continue to drive down the spread of COVID-19.”