The Department of Health has reported 879 new cases of COVID-19 and a further 101 Covid-related deaths, the highest number of deaths reported on any day since the start of the pandemic.
Of the deaths reported today, 83 are from January and 18 from February – and they were aged between 19 and 103 years, with a median age of 85.
Fifty-three of the new cases reported by health officials this evening are in Galway, where the 14-day incidence rate is now 408 cases per 100,000 people.
Today’s figures brings the total number of cases in the Republic since the beginning of the pandemic to 198,424 and there have now been 3,418 deaths related to the disease.
Speaking this evening, Dr Tony Holohan said that it is the highest number of deaths they have reported on any single day of the COVID-19 pandemic so far.
“The high mortality we are experiencing as a country at the moment is related to the surge of infection we saw several weeks ago, and the hospitalisations and admissions to ICU that followed as a direct result,” said the Chief Medical Officer.
“Although we have seen great improvement in the level of infection being reported, we have a long way to go and incidence needs to decline much further.
“The best way to honour those who have died from COVID-19, and those who loved them or provided care for them, is to follow the public health advice. Stay at home unless absolutely necessary, and encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same.
“What we can have control over today is the outlook of this disease in the weeks to come. Your positive actions matter, and they add up at a collective level. Please keep it up.”
