Covid-19 Saturday: no new deaths, but 200 further cases confirmed

WHILE have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre this Saturday, there has been an alarming 200 further cases of people contracting the virus, the largest number by county being in Kildare

There has been a total of 1,774 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Friday 14 August, the HPSC has been notified of 200 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 27,191* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. (*Validation of data at the HPSC led to the denotification of four confirmed cases. The figure of 27,191 reflects this.)

Of the cases notified today:

• 103 are men and 96 are women
• 68% are under 45 years of age
• 68 are confirmed to be associated with outbreaks or are close contacts of a confirmed case
• 25 cases have been identified as community transmission
• 56 are in Dublin, 81 in Kildare, 13 in Tipperary, 8 in Limerick, 6 Laois, 6 in Galway, 5 in Kilkenny, 5 in Meath and the rest of the 20 cases are in Carlow, Clare, Cork, Donegal, Louth, Mayo, Offaly, Roscommon, Waterford and Wicklow

The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

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

Dr Ronan Glynn, Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said:

"This is the largest number of cases in a single day since the beginning of May. We now have multiple clusters with secondary spread of disease and rising numbers of cases in many parts of the country. This is deeply concerning. NPHET will monitor this extremely closely over the coming days."

"This virus is still out there and has not gone away. COVID-19 seeks to capitalise on complacency and is just waiting for the opportunity to spread. I am asking everyone, especially those who are over 70 or medically vulnerable, to limit your contacts, keep your distance from other people and take extra care to heed public health advice."

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