There are currently 8,928 total confirmed cases and 320 covid-19 related deaths in Ireland.

April 11th saw the highest total of cases reported in one day with an additional 553 new confirmed cases of covid-19 reported by Irish laboratories and also included was an additional 286 confirmed cases of covid-19 reported by a laboratory in Germany (which reflect cases from weeks ago).

And sadly, it was reported that there was a further 33 covid-19 related deaths. Of this number, 30 were located in the east, and three were in the west of the country. 25 people were reported as having underlying health conditions.

Friday saw and interesting exchange between Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Tony Holohan and journalist’s trying to understand what the actual figures were as it emerged that Ireland’s total number of cases is more than 1,000 greater than previously thought.

Officially, NPHET said that 480 new cases had been recorded in the country, bringing the overall total to 7,054.

A second figure of 7,071, recorded by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) as at midnight on Wednesday was also delivered, followed by a final figure of 8,089.

The larger figure includes 1,035 test results delivered from German laboratories and is the most up-to-date one available, Dr Holohan said.

Saturday Minister for Health Simon Harris  said between 25,000 and 30,000 tests had been sent to Germany and “well over” half of the results had been returned, with the remainder due back by next week.

Speaking at a press conference he said it was the Government’s hope that any backlog in relation to testing would be addressed by the end of next week.

And finally, an analysis from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) shows that as of Thursday 9 April, when there were 7,787 cases and including German results received to that date, shows:

• 45% are male and 54% are female, with 356 clusters involving 1,626 cases
• The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
• 1,718 cases (22%) have been hospitalised
• Of those hospitalised, 253 cases have been admitted to ICU
• 2,141 cases are associated with healthcare workers
• Dublin has the highest number of cases at 4,156 (53% of all cases) followed by Cork with 581 cases (8%)
• Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 66%, close contact accounts for 26%, travel abroad accounts for 8%.

Restrictions on movement, which the Government introduced a fortnight ago, will not now be eased before Tuesday 5 May.

Categories: Journalism, Politics

Tags: #coronvirus, #ireland, #journalism, #news, #updates