Covid-19: Two further deaths, 363 new cases confirmed in Ireland

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan: "I urge everyone to redouble their efforts, try and have fewer close contacts this week than you did last week, continue to social distance and follow the other vitally important public health guidelines." Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

A further two people have died as a result of contracting Covid-19, officials from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) have confirmed.

One of the deaths reported today occurred in November, and another remains under investigation. 

There has now been a total of 1,965 Covid-19-related deaths in Ireland since the outbreak began.

HPSC also says that, as of midnight last night, it had been notified of 362 new confirmed cases of Covid-19.

There has now been a total of 66,247 confirmed cases of Covid-19 here.

Of the cases notified today:

• 187 are men;
• 174 are women;
• 55% are under 45 years of age; 
• The median age is 41 years old; 
• 90 are located in Dublin; 
• 48 are in Donegal; 
• 34 are in Limerick; 
• 29 are in Louth;
• 24 are in Cork;
• and the remaining 137 cases are spread across 21 other counties.

As of 2pm today, 280 patients with Covid-19 patients were hospitalised - 38 of whom were in intensive care units.

An additional 21 additional hospitalisations have been reported in the past 24 hours.

Speaking at this evening's health briefing, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan said things were improving, but we could not yet afford to "take a step back from our adherence to public health guidelines."

He said: "I urge everyone to redouble their efforts, try and have fewer close contacts this week than you did last week, continue to social distance and follow the other vitally important public health guidelines. 

“I also want to thank those who have self-isolated after receiving a positive Covid-19 test result; or having been identified as a close contact of a confirmed case. 

"Self-isolating is a vital measure in our efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 and it is essential that all those asked to self-isolate continue to do so.”

Validation of data at the HPSC has also resulted in the denotification of four previously confirmed cases.

The above figure of 66,247 confirmed cases reflects these denotifications.