Seventeen new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Galway, health officials have reported this evening.
The Department of Health reported a total of 379 new cases nationally as well as nine further deaths related to the disease.
Galway’s 14-day incidence rate has fallen to 74 cases per 100,000 people, with 191 infections confirmed over the past fortnight.
77% of the new cases across the State are under 45 years of age the median age is 29 years old. A total of 171 are in Dublin, while 27 are in Donegal, 28 in Kildare, 24 in Limerick and 22 in Cork.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that this week is ‘a hopeful week’ and one that people have all been looking forward to.
“We have gotten to this point by working together in following the public health advice and reducing incidence of disease in our communities,” said Dr Holohan.
“We need to continue to focus on the measures that we know can protect ourselves and our loved ones from COVID-19 – we can plan to meet friends and family where it is safe to do so and those who have been vaccinated can have confidence in their vaccine. They are now able to get out and about and enjoy the benefits of the vaccine.”
The CMO said that the two primary targets as we try to exit the pandemic are vaccination and low transmission.
“If we can keep cases low and continue to vaccinate as many people as possible, we will find ourselves in a very different risk environment where we can see further easing of measures,” he added.
“Our task now is to keep the disease under control by following the basic measures and taking up our vaccine when it is offered to us.”
