There has been 35 further Coronavirus-related death and 613 new cases according to the figures released by the health authorities this evening.
21 of these deaths occurred in February, 12 occurred in January, 1 in November, while one further death is under investigation.
The median age of those who died was 85 years and the age range was 53 – 102 years.
Of today’s new cases, nine of them are in Laois which means the county’s 14-day incidence rate moves to 278.6 from 292.5 yesterday.
Of the cases notified today:
- 308 are men / 304 are women
- 66% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 34 years old
- 224 in Dublin, 39 in Limerick, 37 in Meath, 34 in Westmeath, 33 in Offaly and the remaining 246 cases are spread across all other counties.
As of 8am today, 591 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 138 are in ICU. 20 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
As of February 22, 359,616 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:
- 226,291 people have received their first dose
- 133,325 people have received their second dose
Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “We are making good progress and can see that many of the key indicators of disease levels in our communities are continuing to fall. This progress is the reason we are able to reopen our schools in a cautious and phased basis.
“However, we must remember that COVID-19 is still circulating at a high level and, we are still seeing positivity rates of around 15% in the community. As we see more of our children return to school next week, it is important that we continue to follow all of the public health guidance, including on the school run.
“Maintain a social distance at all times, wear a face covering, do not mix with other households other than for essential reasons, wash our hands, and most importantly, ensure that children do not attend school if they display symptoms of COVID-19, as per the HSE website, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell. If you display any of these symptoms, you should self-isolate and phone your GP or GP out-of-hours service to arrange for a test.”
Dr Lucy Jessop, Director, National Immunisation Office, said: “In the last ten days, we have seen Ireland’s COVID-19 Vaccination Programme move into the community. Many of us know family and friends who are among the almost 360,000 people to have been vaccinated in recent weeks. This is cause for great hope for all of us.”
“The vaccine is already having a significant impact on our healthcare workers. In the last week in January, almost 1,400 healthcare workers contracted COVID-19; that number was less than 300 last week. This is wonderful news and clearly demonstrates the early impact the vaccination programme is having.”
“However, even if you have received your COVID-19 vaccine, you must continue to wash your hands, wear a face covering, maintain a social distance and keep your close contacts to a minimum.”
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said: “We are making continued and significant progress, albeit more slowly. The reproduction number remains below 1, between 0.6 and 0.9, which is a real achievement given the higher transmissibility of the B.1.1.7 variant, which accounts for 90% of cases. Our collective efforts to suppress transmission of the virus and bring the disease to manageable levels are having a positive impact. If we continue to work together, we can keep each other safe as the vaccination programme offers wider protection.”
Dr Cillian De Gascun, Medical Virologist and Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory said: “New variants of concern will continue to emerge as COVID-19 adapts to us. This highlights the importance of Ireland’s National Surveillance programme. This week, we will be sequencing 15% of cases at the NVRL.”
New Cases in Laois
- February 24 – 9
- February 23 – 18
- February 22 – 10
- February 21 – 10
- February 20 – 13
- February 19 – 29
- February 18 – 13
- February 17 – 22
- February 16 – 24
- February 15 – 15
- February 14 – 7
- February 13 – 13
- February 12 – 19
- February 11 – 15
- February 10 – 22
14-day case rate in Laois per 100,000 population
- February 24 – 278.6
- February 23 – 292.5
- February 22 – 295
- February 21 – 294
- February 20 – 297.5
- February 19 – 307
- February 18 – 299.9
- February 17 – 303.4
- February 16 – 305.8
- February 15 – 284.5
- February 14 – 273.9
- February 13 – 296.4
- February 12 – 307
- February 11 – 297.5
- February 10 – 297
New cases in Laois during past 14 days
-
- February 24 – 236
- February 23 – 248
- February 22 – 250
- February 21 – 249
- February 20 – 252
- February 19 – 260
- February 18 – 254
- February 17 – 257
- February 16 – 259
- February 15 – 241
- February 14 – 232
- February 13 – 251
- February 12 – 260
- February 11 – 252
- February 10 – 252
Nursing Home cases fall
The number of coronavirus cases reported from nursing homes has fallen by more than 80 per cent in a single week which the HSE is saying must be attributable to the rollout of vaccines.
In the week to February 14 there were 482 lab reported cases from nursing homes, in the following week up to February 21st it was 91, a fall of 82 per cent.
Dr Colm Henry said: “It’s a signal that we are heading in the right direction. It’s beginning to kick in.
“The collapse is very welcome. We have to speak dispassionately about this, but it must be attributable to the vaccine.
“Vaccinations began in long-term care facilities in January. Up to Monday, 58,414 people in long-term residential care centres were fully vaccinated. A further 3,600 people will be vaccinated next week completing the vaccination programme for nursing home residents.”
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