HPSC says 70% of recent Covid cases were close contacts, as 259 new cases confirmed

A sign for a Covid testing centre on Shrewsbury Road in Dublin. File Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

A further 259 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed this evening by officials at the Department of Health.

The number of patients with Covid-19 in hospital has fallen by one to 76, of whom 27 are being treated in intensive care.

As of midnight, Tuesday 8 June, we are reporting 259* confirmed cases of #COVID19.

27 in ICU. 76 in hospital.

*Daily case numbers may change due to future data review, validation and update.

— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) June 9, 2021

Meanwhile, 70% of all the Covid-19 cases in Ireland in the last two weeks were the result of someone being a close contact of a confirmed case.

New data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) shows that there were some 5,618 cases confirmed in Ireland between May 25 and June 7.

Of these, 70.1% were connected to other confirmed cases.

Community transmission accounted for just over 20% of the cases, while just 3.3% were connected to travel.

A further 6.1% of these cases remain under investigation by the HPSC.

The median age of these cases is just 24 years old and 141 of the cases were healthcare workers.

Limerick incidence rate remains highest in the country 

In terms of 14-day incidence rates, Limerick, which has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks, recorded a rate of 449 per 100,000 people – by far the highest rate in the country.

Donegal’s rate of 177.1 per 100,000 was the country’s second-highest, followed by Dublin at 139.5.

All three counties registered a higher incidence rate than the national average of 118 per 100,000 people.

The 14-day incidence rate for each county up to June 7 can be seen below:

Source: HPSC/ Twitter @hpscireland

Cork's 14-day incidence rate is 93. According to the latest data, Sligo registered the country's lowest incidence rate, with just 9.2.

As the HSE grapples with the fallout from the recent cyberattack on its systems, the system in which new Covid-19 cases and Covid-19-related deaths are captured has been impacted.

The HSE and HPSC say these new figures are subject to future update and validation