Nine further deaths and 442 Covid-19 cases confirmed
Almost half of the confirmed cases are located in Dublin with the capital reporting 208 cases. This is followed by Cork with 32 cases, Kildare with 24, Meath with 20 and Donegal with 17.
There have been nine further Covid-related deaths confirmed this evening as the Health Minister claims one in six adults have received a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Three of today's confirmed deaths occurred in January while two were in February, three were in March and the final one in April.
Another 442 cases of the coronavirus were also confirmed this evening.
Three-quarters of today's reported cases are people under the age of 45 with the average age coming in at 31 years old.
Almost half of the confirmed cases are located in Dublin with the capital reporting 208 cases. This is followed by Cork with 32 cases, Kildare with 24, Meath with 20 and Donegal with 17.
The remaining 142 cases are spread across 19 other counties. Counties Kilkenny and Carlow reported no cases today.
Five counties reported less than five cases today - Longford, Roscommon, Leitrim, Clare and Sligo.
Offaly continues to have an extremely high incidence rate at 407.9 per 100,000.
This figure is much higher than the county with the second highest 14-day incidence rate - Westmeath at 260.2 - and the national incidence rate which currently stands at 157.1.
In the two weeks to April 5, Offaly has recorded 318 confirmed cases.
Of over 16,000 nursing home residents in the latest round of Covid-19 mass testing, fewer than a dozen are positive for the virus.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid said the positivity rate is down to 0.07%.
He says it is the lowest rate since serial testing started and proof "vaccines are protecting the most vulnerable".
As of this morning, there are 261 Covid-19 patients in hospital, of which 60 are in ICU. There have been 12 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
The latest vaccine data shows that as of April 3, there have been 932,324 doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered - 660,800 people have received their first dose while 271,524 have received their second.
Today, Stephen Donnelly tweeted: "One in six adults in Ireland has now received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.
"The no (number) of people with Covid in ICUs has fallen by about 75% since peak in late January.
"We’ve one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 in Europe now. We’re making huge progress."
It comes as the health service in Ireland plans to ramp up its vaccine programme following months of setbacks and missed targets.
Despite plans to administer one million doses of Covid-19 vaccines throughout April, the Government revised down its target to around 860,000 vaccines.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) insists it has not yet reached a conclusion on its assessment of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and whether there is a definitive link to blood clots.
In a statement, the European Medicines Agency says the review is currently ongoing and is expected to be finalised tomorrow or Thursday.
European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides said she is in close contact with the EMA and expects an update late on Wednesday.
It comes after a senior official at the organisation told an Italian newspaper, he believed there was a link between the vaccine and rare blood clots.
Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccines at the EMA, is said to have suggested a clear link, though admitted there was uncertainty how the vaccine would cause the complication.
The EMA has previously said that there is “no evidence” to support restricting the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in any population.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 outweigh any risks.
It is studying the latest data and will deliver a fresh assessment either tomorrow or Thursday.
But the WHO doesn't believe there will be any reason to change its advice.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended the safety of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - as reports suggest UK regulators apparently consider restricting it in young people.
The number of people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) this week is down by 6,000.
Today, 437,000 people are due to receive the payment, reaching a total of over €130 million.
Dublin has the highest number of people on the payment at over 140,000, followed by Cork (43,871) and Galway (23,589).
Construction has seen the largest decrease in the number of people receiving PUP, with 1,591 fewer people receiving the payment compared to last week.
The sectors with the highest number of people in receipt of PUP is hospitality (106,158) and retail (70,083).
Of the 7,165 people who closed their PUP claims, 5,524 did so because they are returning to work.
Speaking on today's figures, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said over 21 million payments have been made to over 857,000 people since last March.
"I know people are feeling weary and fatigued," said Ms Humphreys.
"The efforts that you are all making are crucial to keeping the virus suppressed and therefore protecting lives while we roll out the vaccination programme, which is being significantly ramped up this month as the supply of vaccines increases.
"By keeping our guard up and staying course, we will beat this virus and can look forward to brighter days ahead."
Discussions around adding more EU countries to the hotel quarantine list are expected to resume this week.
Twenty-six countries including Israel, Palestine and Andorra were officially added to the list this morning.
Cabinet was divided last week over the issue of including the US and EU countries such as Italy, Germany and France.
Public health physician Dr Gabriel Scally believes all incoming passengers should face hotel quarantine.
"On public health grounds, you really should have a full quarantine system that applies to everyone who wants to come in," said Dr Scally.
"They should go through a managed isolation process. That is the fairest way of doing it and it is the safest way of doing it.
"You cannot half do quarantine measures."
UCC professor Gerry Killeen has said that failing to impose a full quarantine on arrivals from the EU is only going to sustain the epidemic here.
"To do a half-baked, or three-quarter baked or even 80% baked is totally pointless.
"It's like living in a paper house and trying to figure out what level of sparks drifting into your house are acceptable.
"It just takes one case of one variant that is beyond what public health people can come up with answers to."
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