Senior medic warns "risk of exceeding the capacity" of Irish health system remains high
A further 25 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Republic have died today and 365 new confirmed cases have been reported.
That brings to 235 the number of COVID-19 related deaths in the Republic; when the 78 in the North are included there have been a total of 313 deaths in Ireland.
Of the deaths in the Republic reported today, 13 were located in the east, eight in the north, two in the south and two in the west of the country. There were 10 females and 15 males amongst the deceased and 18 people were reported as having underlying health conditions.
There were also 365 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Republic as of 1pm, today (April 8) bringing the total to 6,074 in the state. North of the Border there were 84 new cases bringing the total to 1,339.
Local cases
The breakdown of figures as of midnight on Monday, April 6 (5,981 cases), reveals that there are 129 confirmed cases in County Cavan - up six from the previous day; and 62 in Monaghan - an increase of four. Despite those modest increases from Monday, today The Anglo-Celt has reported an outbreak of COVID-19 in Cavan General Hospital.
The median age of confirmed cases nationally is 48 years and 1,472 cases (25%) have been hospitalised. Of those hospitalised, 224 cases have been admitted to ICU and 1,568 cases are associated with healthcare workers
The National Public Health Emergency Team noted today’s guidance from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) that the risk of severe disease associated with COVID-19 in the EU and UK is considered moderate for the general population and very high for vulnerable groups.
The ECDC also advised that it is currently too early to start lifting community and physical distancing measures and that Member States should continue to adopt a public health based approach of testing and contact tracing.
Capacity
Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “The ECDC has said that the probability of continued spread of COVID-19 is very high.
The risk of exceeding the capacity of the health system remains high even in countries like Ireland where significant public health restrictions have been put in place.
“It is for these reasons that we continue to ask people to stay at home and to follow public health advice. While we know these measures are difficult especially as we approach a sunny, bank holiday weekend, the efforts we are seeing from the public are having an impact and making a real difference.”