Covid-19 Friday: Seven more deaths and 777 confirmed new cases

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today (Friday) been notified of seven additional deaths related to COVID-19. Of the deaths reported today, all occurred in October.

There has been a total of 1,878 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight on Thursday 22^nd, the HPSC has been notified of 777 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 55,261 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today;

• 434 are men / 340 are women
• 66% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 33 years old
• 182 in Dublin, 81 in Galway, 44 in Wexford, 42 in Meath, 41 in Cork and the remaining 387 cases are spread across 21 remaining counties.

As of 2pm today 319 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 37 are in ICU. 24 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr.Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said; “15,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 over the last 14 days. It is vital for everyone with a recent diagnosis to self-isolate for the full 10 days to protect the people they live with, the people they love and people in their communities from this highly infectious disease. Self-isolate means stay at home, stay in your room as much as possible, stay away from other people, including those in your household.

“If you live with someone who has COVID-19 or you have been told that you are a close contact, you must restrict your movements for a full 14 days. Stay at home - don’t go to work, don’t go to school.

“I appeal to everyone to behave as though you are a close contact. Stay at home, other than for essential reasons. Now is the time to use our reserves of energy and dig deep in our efforts to follow the public health advice – keep your distance, wash your hands and wear a face covering. Play your part to break the chains of transmission across families, neighbours and communities.”

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.

Today’s cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 22 October 2020) was 306.1 nationally and in 327.7 Cork. The lowest national 14-day incidence rate was on July 3rd, 2020 when the rate was 2.98 cases per 100,000 population.

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