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The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today (Friday) been informed that 44 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ireland have died.

In Kerry, the number of total confirmed cases stands at 254.

As of 11.15am today (Friday), the HPSC has been notified of the following cases;

•        An additional 597 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by Irish laboratories
  ·        An additional 112 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by a laboratory in Germany

With the latest figures from Germany included, there are now a total of 13,980 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of today’s deaths;

•        33 deaths were located in the east, three in the north west, three in the south and five in the west of the country
  ·        The deaths included 19 females and 25 males
  ·        The median age of today’s reported deaths is 84
  ·        25 people were reported as having underlying health conditions

There have now been 530 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. A summary of all 530 deaths provided by the HPSC shows that;

•        308 (58%) of those who died were male, 222 (42%) were female
  ·        The age range is 23 - 105 years
  ·        The median age of those who died is 83
  ·        316 of these cases were admitted to hospital with 45 admitted to ICU

Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Wednesday, 15 April (13,012 cases) reveals:

•        44% are male and 55% are female, with 436 clusters involving 2,723 cases
  ·        The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
  ·        2,082 cases (16%) have been hospitalised
  ·        Of those hospitalised, 294 cases have been admitted to ICU
  ·        3,347 cases are associated with healthcare workers
  ·        Dublin has the highest number of cases at 6,567 (51% of all cases) followed by Cork with 945 cases (7%)
  ·        Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 53%, close contact accounts for 42%, travel abroad accounts for 5%

  The National Public Health Emergency Team met today (Friday) to continue its ongoing review of Ireland’s response to COVID-19.

Decisions from this meeting include:

• To expand testing capacity to 100,000 tests per week operating on a seven-day week basis for a minimum of six months
  ·        Over the course of the next 7-10 days, testing of staff and residents in all Long-Term Residential Care (LTRC) facilities to be prioritised
  ·        A census of mortality across all LTRC facilities to be carried out this weekend to cover all deaths, COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 since 1^st January 2020, regardless of where the death occurred

“At today’s meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team, we endorsed a proposal to increase testing of staff and residents across all long-term residential care settings including nursing homes,” Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said.

“The behaviour of the virus among vulnerable groups who live in these care settings continues to be a concern and this remains a priority for NPHET.

“While we are suppressing the disease among the general public, we cannot afford to become complacent. To remain safe from COVID-19 we need to continue to wash our hands thoroughly and regularly, cough into our elbows and practice social distancing. These simple measures can slow down the spread of this virus and save lives.”

Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE, said: “Each COVID-19 death reported is a tragedy. This is an incurable illness and while 80% of the population will experience a mild form of the disease, our older and more vulnerable people are at a much greater risk due to the behaviour of this disease within this group.”