Nphet reports 384 new Covid-19 cases and no further deaths

IE ARCHIVE STOCK GENERIC IMAGE 19/01/2021 health hse covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

No further deaths of Covid-19 patients have been reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet). The total number of deaths during the pandemic stands at 4,534.

Nphet also reported 384 confirmed cases of the disease, bringing to 226,741 the total number of cases in the Republic.

This afternoon, 349 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, of which 86 were in ICU. An additional 17 hospitalisations occurred in the previous 24 hours.

The 14-day incidence of the disease now stands at 150.7 cases per 100,000 people nationally. Offaly has the highest county incidence, followed by Longford.

Of the new cases, 145 are in Dublin, 41 in Kildare, 37 in Offaly, 29 in Galway and 24 in Cork with the remaining 108 cases spread across 17 other counties.

Of the cases notified today, 195 are male and 187 are female. 73% are under 45 years of age, and the median age is 31 years old.

By March 11, 589,512 doses of coronavirus vaccines had been administered, comprising 426,819 first doses and 162,693 second doses.

Dr Glynn said the NIAC is acting on a "precautionary principle" as it has not yet been confirmed that there is any link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and these cases.

Earlier, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) has recommended that the administration of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine be temporarily suspended from this morning.

In a statement, Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO), said the recommendation was being made following a report from the Norwegian Medicines Agency of four new cases of serious blood clotting events in adults after receiving the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine.

Dr Glynn said the NIAC is acting on a "precautionary principle" as it has not yet been confirmed that there is any link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and these cases.

A spokesperson for AstraZeneca said a careful review is ongoing and it is committed to sharing information "without delay".

A small number of reports associated with blood clots have been notified to Irish regulators.

They were not as serious as those described in Norway, which led to a temporary halt on the drug’s use in Ireland, and the number involved was extremely low, the country’s Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) said.