1,547 people have now died from Coronavirus in Ireland – an increase of four from yesterday.
It is important to note that not all of these people passed away today and that this is the number that were reported to the Department of Health today.
These people will have passed away in recent days and not just today.
While there has been a total of 88 new cases of Coronavirus have been diagnosed in Ireland today.
This is an increase on the 24,112 cases from yesterday and takes the overall total to 24,200.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “On the first day of Ireland moving into Phase One of reopening we have experienced the lowest number of deaths since March 27th. We have suppressed the virus and limited its impact on public health. We need to sustain this in the weeks and phases ahead.”
Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said; “Every death is one too many, but the collective effort to date has saved many lives. We must save more by practicing physical distancing, especially in queues and public spaces, respiratory etiquette and hand washing.”
Dr Siobhan Ni Bhriain, Consultant Psychiatrist and HSE Integrated Care Lead, said: “Moving into a new phase in Ireland’s response to COVID-19, we now have an opportunity to increase our exercise activity up to 5 kilometres and participate with a friend outside of the household. I would urge anyone who can, to take advantage of this in order to improve mental health and wellbeing.”
Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Saturday 16th May (24,036 cases), reveals:
· 57% are female and 43% are male
· the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
· 3,127 cases (13%) have been hospitalised
· Of those hospitalised, 391 cases have been admitted to ICU
· 7,615 cases are associated with healthcare workers
· Dublin has the highest number of cases at 11,693 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,367 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,361 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%
Northern Ireland, the UK and globally
There have been 6 further Covid-19 related deaths in Northern Ireland, bringing official total to 482.
There have been 16 new cases of Coronavirus, bringing the Northern Ireland total to 4,401.
The UK Coronavirus death toll increased by 160 in past 24 hours, taking total recorded fatalities to 34,796. They now have more deaths than Italy and the second highest in the world behind the USA who have 88,628.
There are now a total 4,848,000 cases of Coronavirus globally. There have been more than 317,000 deaths while 1,880,000 have recovered.
Number of people on Pandemic Unemployment Payment dips
The number of people receiving the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment has fallen slightly by 5,000 to 584,600 over the last week, new figures show.
Of those, 7,000 are receiving the €350 weekly payment for the first time.
A further 214,700 people were receiving Jobseekers’ Benefit of €203 a week at the end of April.
Important information
Symptoms of Covid-19 include:
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Fever
- Breathing difficulties.
Further resources:
- The HSE: Official advice on the coronavirus in Ireland. This is being updated based on the number of confirmed cases and how the virus spreads in Ireland.
- The Department of Foreign Affairs: Official advice on where to avoid travelling to. Also a resource for those who are abroad.
- The World Health Organization (WHO): The UN agency on global public health publishes statements and daily situation reports based on the latest data.
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): The EU agency on the number of cases, deaths and how it’s spreading in Europe.
- The Johns Hopkins University map: A heat map of the confirmed cases across the world.
A helpline for older people who are concerned about the coronavirus has been launched by Alone. The number is 0818 222 024, and it’s open Monday to Friday, 8am-8pm.
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