Covid-19 Friday: six more deaths, 582 new cases

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today (Friday) been notified of six additional deaths related to COVID-19.

There has been a total of 2,149 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Thursday 17th December, the HPSC has been notified of 582 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 78,254 * confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today;

• 310 are men / 265 are women
• 60% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 38 years old
• 193 in Dublin, 59 in Wexford, 47 in Louth, 42 in Meath, 34 in Cork and the remaining 207 cases are spread all other remaining counties.

As of 2pm today 198 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 34 are in ICU. 13 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “Over the past week, we have expressed significant concern that the level of infection was deteriorating day on day. The data today adds further evidence that the situation is getting worse more rapidly than we expected.

“The country simply cannot cope with this level of infection as we head into Christmas week. With vaccines offering hope in the coming months for our most vulnerable groups, we want to keep them alive and well so that they can receive it.

“Each one of us must do all we can to protect public health - cut your contacts, see only those you need to see. Choose to socialise safely, outdoors if possible. If you see a crowd, avoid it.

By choosing to act safely right now, together we can limit the impact this disease will have in the weeks and months to come - and in doing so, we can protect the vulnerable and prevent unnecessary deaths.”

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.

*Validation of data at the HPSC led to the denotification of six cases. The figure of 78,254 cases reflects this.

• To watch or listen to the Southern Star Coronavirus Podcast, please search ‘Coronavirus Podcast’ at the top right of this page or see the Southern Star on YouTube. This week’s podcast is a books special, called The Best Book I Read This Year. Presented by Star journalists Emma Connolly and Siobhán Cronin, guests sharing their book choices include Brian O’Donovan and Jacqui Hurley from RTÉ, film producer David Puttnam, authors Carol Drinkwater and Bibi Baskin, TD Michael Collins, former TD Jim Daly, and many more. And this week's music is a lovely tribute song to singer Kirsty MacColl, whose anniversary takes place at this time of year.

• You can subscribe to the Southern Star Coronavirus podcast which is available, in audio and video versions, on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Today’s cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 17 December 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

The seven-day incidence is 57.8 per 100,000 of population.

The five-day moving average is 417.