3,035 new cases confirmed as Covid-19 death toll nears 7,000

1,609 of the new cases were recorded through positive antigen test results registered on the HSE portal on Wednesday. File Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire

3,035 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed this afternoon by officials at the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

1,426 of the cases were reported through PCR testing and the remaining 1,609 were recorded through positive antigen test results registered on the HSE portal on Wednesday.

As of 8am this morning, there were 654 Covid-19 patients hospitalised, down 42 on Wednesday morning's total.

Of these, 37 were being treated in intensive care units, a decrease of five.

Meanwhile, the death toll from Covid-19 in Ireland is now nearing 7,000 as a further 63 people have died in the last two weeks, according to the latest data.

New statistics released by the HPSC on Wednesday show that over the two-week period up to April 18 there were five Covid-deaths in Waterford, two in Cork, and one in Kerry.

Dublin continues to see the highest number of Covid-19 deaths per county, with 26 dying there in that two-week period.

Since March 2020, there have been 6,981 deaths linked to Covid around the country.

During the entire pandemic, Cork was the second-worst affected county, with 603 people losing their lives to the virus since March 2020, the updated data shows.

Across Munster, Kerry has seen the least number of Covid-related deaths, with 139 since the start of the pandemic.