“Today marks a milestone in Ireland’s experience of COVID-19 as confirmed cases exceed 10,000,” Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, has this evening (Monday) said.

The statement comes as it was revealed that there’s now 10,647 confirmed cases in Ireland.

Since yesterday (Sunday), a further 31 people have died of COVID-19.

In Kerry, there’s been an increase of 30 confirmed cases, which now stands at 200.

Nationally, 989 new cases have been confirmed. These include; 527 diagnosed in Ireland with a further 462 from a German laboratory.

Of the 31 deaths;

• 26 are located in the east, three in the north west, one in the south and one in the west of the country
• the deaths included 18 females and 13 males
• the median age of today’s reported deaths is 82
• 25 people were reported as having underlying health conditions

There has now been a total of 365 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Saturday, April 11 (9,484 cases) – and including German results received to that date, reveals:

• 45% are male and 54% are female, with 401 clusters involving 1,795 cases
•  the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
• 1,849 cases (20%) have been hospitalised
• Of those hospitalised, 268 cases have been admitted to ICU
• 2,489 cases are associated with healthcare workers
• Dublin has the highest number of cases at 5,006 (53% of all cases) followed by Cork with 730 cases (8%)
• Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 66%, close contact accounts for 27%, travel abroad accounts for 7%

  Research conducted on behalf of the Department of Health shows that the percentage of the population who feel we are experiencing the worst of the pandemic right now has risen strongly from 11% on March 16 to 37% today, though 55% feel the worst is still ahead of us.

The nationally representative online survey of 1,270 adults conducted today, which is conducted twice weekly, reveals:

• The percentage of people behaving safely continues to rise for behaviours such as washing hands (94%) and using sanitiser (81%), but has fallen for sitting apart from others (59%) possibly reflecting more time spent at home
• The vast majority are staying at home rather than going out: up from 78% on 16 March to 90% currently
• While a significant proportion of the population reported feelings of worry (43%) and anxiety (38%), a similar proportion reported feelings of enjoyment (46%) and happiness (36%) in today’s survey.

  “Today marks a milestone in Ireland’s experience of COVID-19 as we see the number of confirmed cases exceed 10,000,” Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said.

“The number of community cases of COVID-19 shows why we continue to need the public health measures that we currently have in place. I understand that the current restrictions are tough, especially during a bank holiday weekend when in normal circumstances most of us would have met up with family and friends, but I ask that the public continue to work with us and follow the guidelines that are in place.

“The next three weeks will prove crucial to Ireland’s COVID-19 story and by working together we give ourselves the best chance to slow the spread and save lives.”