Nphet reports 10 more deaths and 507 new Covid-19 cases

This afternoon, 336 Covid-19 patients are in hospital, of which 87 are in ICU. 

A further 10 deaths of Covid-19 patients have been reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), bringing the total number of deaths since the pandemic began to 4,576.

Nphet has also reported 507 confirmed cases of the disease, bringing to 229,306 the total number of cases in Ireland.

Of the deaths notified this evening, nine of these occurred in March, while one case remains under investigation.

The median age of those who died was 75 years and the age range was 45 – 88 years.

This afternoon, 336 Covid-19 patients are in hospital, of which 87 are in ICU. An additional 43 hospitalisations were recorded in the previous 24 hours.

By March 16, 632,359 doses of coronavirus vaccines had been administered, comprising of 463,500 first doses and 168,859 second doses.

The 14-day incidence of the disease now stands at 150.5 cases per 100,000 people nationally. Offaly has the highest county incidence, followed by Longford.

Of the new cases, 216 are in Dublin, 40 in Kildare, 29 in Galway, 24 in Offaly, 18 in Tipperary, and the remaining 180 cases are spread across 20 other counties.

Of the cases notified today, 249 are men and 255 are women. 70% are under 45 years of age, and the median age is 33 years old.

Meanwhile, mandatory hotel quarantine will be enacted "very soon", the Taoiseach says, with the measure now law nearly two weeks.

Under the legislation announced in January and signed into law on March 7, any arrival who fails to adhere to the rules when arriving from certain countries will be fined €4,000 and face a possible month in prison.

The move was made to stop the spread of Covid-19 variants from countries such as Brazil and South Africa.