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Covid-19 Wednesday: 6 deaths, 431 new cases

December 16th, 2020 6:33 PM

By Siobhan Cronin

There were 836 people with Covid-19 in hospitals around this country as of 8am this morning. (Photo: Shutterstock)

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The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 6 additional deaths related to Covid-19.

There has been a total of 2,140 Covid-19-related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Tuesday 15th December, the HPSC has been notified of 431 confirmed cases of Covid-19. There is now a total of 77,197 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

  • 185 are men / 244 are women
  • 67% are under 45 years of age
  • The median age is 35 years old
  • 134 in Dublin, 53 in Donegal, 25 in Cavan, 24 in Louth, 22 in Mayo, and the remaining 173 cases are spread across all other remaining counties.

 

As of 2pm today 207 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 30 are in ICU. There were 22 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

 

Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer, Department of Health, said: ‘We are seeing significant and concerning indicators that this disease in moving in the wrong direction, including an increase in positivity rates, and 7 day and 14 day incidence, and our 5 day average has now increased to 339 cases. Recent international experience has demonstrated just how quickly this disease can get out of control.’

 

‘These trends are all the more troubling because of the delicate and precarious situation we are in – as a country, we are heading into a period of potential widespread inter-household and inter-generational mixing. This is an ideal opportunity for the virus to spread and impact on those most vulnerable to its severest effects. Don’t give Covid-19 this chance: limit your contacts, prioritise who you meet, and let’s remain vigilant so we can get through this together. NPHET will meet tomorrow to review the epidemiological situation.’

 

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 per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 15 December 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

 

County Today's cases (to midnight 15Dec2020) 14-Day incidence rate per 100,000 population (to 15Dec2020) New Cases during last 14 days

(15Dec2020)

Ireland 431 87.9 4185
Donegal 53 245.6 391
Louth 24 201.7 260
Kilkenny 15 197.5 196
Carlow <5 156.3 89
Cavan 25 147 112
Longford <5 137 56
Monaghan 7 136.8 84
Limerick 13 122.6 239
Laois 13 113.3 96
Mayo 22 105 137
Dublin 134 97.7 1316
Wicklow <5 82.1 117
Waterford <5 79.2 92
Offaly 8 78.2 61
Kildare 17 67.9 151
Tipperary <5 67.7 108
Meath 12 65.6 128
Wexford 15 56.8 85
Sligo <5 50.4 33
Galway 9 50 129
Kerry 17 42 62
Roscommon <5 38.7 25
Westmeath <5 34.9 31
Leitrim <5 28.1 9
Cork 18 27.6 150
Clare <5 23.6 28

 

The 5 day moving average of cases is 339.

 

The 7 day incidence rate is 48.7 per 100,000 of population.

 

  • To watch or listen to the Southern Star Coronavirus Podcast, please search ‘Coronavirus Podcast’ at the top right of this page or see the Southern Star on YouTube. This week’s podcast is a books special, called The Best Book I Read This Year. Presented by Star journalists Emma Connolly and Siobhán Cronin, guests sharing their book choices include Brian O’Donovan and Jacqui Hurley from RTÉ, film producer David Puttnam, authors Carol Drinkwater and Bibi Baskin, TD Michael Collins, former TD Jim Daly, and many more. And this week's music is a lovely tribute song to singer Kirsty MacColl, whose anniversary takes place at this time of year.

 

  • You can subscribe to the Southern Star Coronavirus podcast which is available, in audio and video versions, on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

 

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