The Chief Medical Officer, Tony Holohan, has this evening said that even though the Government today (Friday) announced Phase 1 of the COVID-19 Roadmap will commence from Monday – his core message is to “‘stay at home where possible”.

His words come as this evening the Health Protection Surveillance Centre revealed that a total of 16 people with COVID-19 have died.

There have now been a total 1,518* COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of 11am, the HPSC has been notified of 129 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 23,956 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

In Kerry, there was an increase of one case since yesterday, which now stands at 306.

Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Wednesday (23,627 cases), reveals:

• 57% are female and 42% are male
• the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
• 3,062 cases (13%) have been hospitalised
• Of those hospitalised, 387 cases have been admitted to ICU
• 7,427 cases are associated with healthcare workers
• Dublin has the highest number of cases at 11,557 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,352 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,256 cases (5%)
• Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 60%, close contact accounts for 37%, travel abroad accounts for 3%

“Earlier today, Government announced Phase 1 of the COVID-19 Roadmap will commence from Monday (May 18),” Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said.

“As we ease restrictions that were implemented in recent weeks, the core message remains the same, ‘stay at home’ where possible and follow public health behaviours to limit the spread; hand washing, respiratory etiquette and physical distancing.

“I urge everyone to remember how easily this virus can spread, how quickly we could lose the progress that the country has worked so hard to achieve.”

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said; “Over a very short time period we have witnessed a whole of society effort to stop this virus in its tracks. Across Government, our health, social care and emergency services, Gardaí and Defence Forces, businesses and the non-profit sector, media and general public at large, it has been heartening to witness such collective action.”

Dr Siobhan Ni Bhriain, Consultant Psychiatrist and HSE Integrated Care Lead, added that these past weeks have been particularly difficult for those who have been cocooning from family, friends and society.

“Today, I hope new measures will bring some relief to this group and that they know we as a society are supporting them wherever possible, including by adopting safe behaviours in physical distancing, hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette.”

*Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 4 deaths. The figure of 1,518 deaths reflects this.