Covid-19 Thursday: 8 deaths, 393 new cases

THE Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of eight additional deaths related to Covid-19.

Of the deaths notified today, three occurred in May, two occurred in March and three occurred in February or earlier.

The median age of those who died was 79 years and the age range was 55-97 years.

There has been a total of 4,921 Covid-19-related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight, Wednesday 5^th May, the HPSC has been notified of 393 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 251,474** confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

• 175 are men / 211 are women
• 79% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 28 years old
• 173 in Dublin, 42 in Cork, 34 in Kildare, 26 in Donegal, 15 in Meath and the remaining 103 cases are spread across 20 other counties***.

As of 8am today, 131 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 36 are in ICU. There were 16 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of Tuesday 4^th May, 1,655,866 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

• 1,201,373 people have received their first dose
• 454,493 people have received their second dose

Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer, Department of Health said: ‘We all want the easing of restrictions next week to be a significant turning point in this pandemic. We have worked so hard to reduce the spread of this disease. More than 30% of adults have now been vaccinated with one dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Ireland and it is time to feel hopeful and to start planning our summer.

‘The choices we make now are vital to minimise the incidence of Covid-19 throughout May and June. Prioritise being outside and avoid crowds. Know the symptoms – self-isolate immediately and phone your GP if you have them. By protecting yourself, you are protecting everyone you know from infection.’

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of Covid-19 in the community including daily data on Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccination programme.

* Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 2 deaths. The figure of 4,921 confirmed deaths reflects this.

** Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 6 confirmed case. The figure of 251,474 confirmed cases reflects this.

*** County data should be considered provisional as the national Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting System (CIDR) is a dynamic system and case details are continually being validated and updated.

Today’s cases, 5-day moving average of new cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 5^th May 2021) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

~The 5-day moving average of the number of new cases provides an appropriate indicator of current daily case numbers within a county. It takes account of any validation of cases for previous days and smooths out daily/weekend fluctuations in case numbers.

• 7-day incidence rate is 66
• 5-day moving average is 410