There have been no further deaths related to COVID-19 reported by the Department of Health today, but 437 new cases have been notified.
Of the cases reported today, 20 are in Galway, the fourth highest level in the country behind Dublin (184), Limerick (31), and Donegal (26).
Galway’s 14-day incidence rate has now fallen to 152.7 per 100,000 people. There have been 394 cases reported here in the past fortnight.
As of 8am today, 418 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised in Ireland, of whom 103 are in ICU. Another 20 people have been hospitalised with the disease in the past 24 hours.
There have now been a total of 223,651 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country, and 4,422 deaths associated with the disease.
Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 5 confirmed cases.
Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer said that research shows that people are still showing a high level of compliance with public health measures, such as washing hands regularly (93%), using hand sanitiser (95%), social distancing while in a queue (93%).
Almost half of people, 48%, now feel that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, Dr Glynn added.
“This hope is justified in the context of the continued improvement in the key indicators of the disease and with the ongoing rollout of the vaccination programme over the coming weeks.”
“However, it is vital that this hope does not give way to complacency; across Europe countries are seeing a deteriorating picture and our own disease incidence remains high”.
“We must do all we can to continue to suppress this virus and to ensure that as many people as possible get to benefit from vaccination over the coming months. Keep your guard up and hold firm.”
Dr. Cliona Murphy, Chair of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said that it recommended that everyone of reproductive age should take the COVID-19 vaccine as it becomes available.
“We are aware of misinformation about risks associated with taking COVID-19 vaccines and an impact on fertility. There is no evidence that taking any of the COVID-19 vaccines affects a woman’s future ability to conceive, or to continue a pregnancy.”
The COVID-19 dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.
