525 new Covid-19 cases as mandatory quarantine legislation signed into law

Sun, 07 Mar, 2021 - 17:39

Steve Neville

A further three deaths related to Covid-19 have been reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team.

There have also been a further 525 confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland.

Some 214 of today's case have been reported in Dublin, with 37 in Meath, 28 in Offaly, 28 in Limerick and 25 in Wicklow.

The remaining 193 cases are spread across 19 other counties

Of today's cases:

271 are men
254 are women
74% are under 45 years of age
The median age is 31 years old

Cases of Covid-19 topped 1,000 for this weekend after 539 cases were reported yesterday. Saturday also saw a further 14 deaths.

The death toll from the virus now stands at 4,422, while there has been a total of 223,219 confirmed cases here.

Nphet has confirmed that as of 8am today, there are 423 Covid-19 patients in hospitals, of which 103 are in ICU.

As of March 4, 493,873 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland.

346,256 people have received their first dose, while 147,617 people have received their second jab.

On Saturday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced that Ireland has reached the milestone of half a million coronavirus jabs administered.

He hailed progress in the pandemic, tweeting on Saturday afternoon that he had been informed by the HSE that the country had passed the half-million mark.

Earlier today, President Michael D Higgins signed mandatory quarantine legislation into law.

The legislation means people arriving into the country from 33 states will have to quarantine in a designated facility for two weeks.

Under the new legislation, any arrival who fails to adhere to the rules will be fined €4,000 and face a possible month in prison for the first month.

"Having considered the Health (Amendment) Bill 2021 the President has signed the Bill and it has accordingly become law," a statement from Áras an Uachtaráin said.

95% of those aged over 85 now vaccinated, says HSE boss