Coronavirus: Three deaths and 811 new cases with 141 in Cork

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer. Picture: RollingNews.ie

There has been 811 new cases of Covid-19 reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today.

There has also been three further deaths.

There has been a total of 1,830 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland, while there has been 44,159 confirmed cases.

Of today's cases, 190 are in Dublin, with 141 in Cork, 62 in Wexford, 51 in Kerry and 50 in Clare.

The remaining 317 cases are spread across all remaining counties.

Stats from today's cases show:

• 415 are men / 396 are women 
• 70% are under 45 years of age 
• The median age is 30 years old

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that there is now "widespread community transmission in the country". 

"The spread of COVID-19 is a whole population issue, which is why we’re appealing to every single individual, every single family, household, organisation, workplace, to act on public health advice. You are the frontline defence against this disease" he added.

The National Public Health Emergency Team stated that as of 2pm today 234 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 32 are in ICU. There has been 22 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

“If we see community transmission patterns continuing to grow, we’re going to see more vulnerable groups being infected and the result of that, unfortunately will be further hospitalisations and deaths," added Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn.

"Limiting your contacts, avoiding crowds and following basic public health measures will ultimately save lives.”

In the North, seven further deaths and another 863 positive cases of Covid-19 have been reported by the Department of Health.

The latest deaths bring the toll in Northern Ireland to 598.

In today's Budget 2021 speech, it was announced that Ireland has signed up to EU advance purchase agreements for potential Covid vaccines.

It was also announced that there will be a new Covid restrictions support scheme to provide targeted support for businesses that have temporarily closed because of the pandemic.