This is some really good news to start the weekend off with.
Portlaoise Hospital is officially Covid-19 free for the first time in 2021.
Since December 21, the hospital has been treating at least one patient with the virus.
When cases spiked over Christmas, the highest amount of patients being treated in Portlaoise with the virus peaked at 26 on January 21.
Since then, cases have began to steadily decline and the latest update from the HSE shows that at 8pm on Friday night, there were no Covid positive patients in the hospital.
This is the first time in 74 days that staff will not be treating anyone with the virus.
There are no suspected cases either with ten general beds available and two critical care beds also unoccupied in the hospital.
The figures reflect the overall pictures in Laois and across the country which shows the Covid-19 cases moving in the right direction.
From a peak of more than 1,000 a few months ago, the 14-day incidence rate in Laois has dropped to 211.3.
As of 8pm on Friday, 401 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 102 are in ICU.
That figure would have stood at more than 2,000 in the middle of January.
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