Today: 2553 Covid-19 Cases On Island Of Ireland.

The Department of Health has confirmed 1,522 new cases of Covid-19 in the Irish Republic. There are currently 217 people being treated for the virus in our hospitals; up 9 on yesterday. Of these patients 34 remain in intensive care units; an increase of 3 on yesterday figures.

The HSE Chief Executive Mr Paul Reid has confirmed that almost 9,000 people received a vaccine dose at a walk-in centre over last weekend.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that over the past fortnight 20,000 cases of the virus have been reported, with 17% of these in people who are doubly vaccinated. This he stated is entirely in keeping with what we expect as an increasing proportion of our population get vaccinated. It should be noted that this does not mean current vaccines are not effective.

Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, sadly 8 further coronavirus deaths have been notified and 1,031 new cases have been confirmed during the past 24 hours. There are 245 confirmed Covid patients in hospital, in Northern Ireland, with 41 in ICU’s; 34 of whom remain on ventilators.

The Director of Public Health at the HSE’s National Immunisation Office has said that the first vaccines for those aged between 12 to 15 are expected to be administered this weekend.

Here in the Republic, Cork University Hospital remains the most overcrowded, with 47 patients waiting on trolleys, due to the temporary closure of Bantry General Hospital. University Hospital Limerick serving North Tipperary has the second highest number, with 41 patients waiting for a bed, followed by University Hospital Galway (39), Sligo University Hospital (26) and Mayo University Hospital (26).

The current 217 Covid related infections is putting our health service under increasing pressure.

The total worldwide number of known virus cases identified up to 4.30pm this evening, now stands at well over 202,970,177 confirmed cases, with global deaths at well over 4,298,791 million and rising.

Please do continue to wear face coverings and to socially distance. The latter has proven to have significantly limited the spread of COVID-19 in the past.