Coronavirus: Seventy-seven cases (2.1%) of COVID-19 in Donegal as Irish death toll rises to 168

As of Friday there have been 5,177 confirmed cases in Ireland - 4,273 in the south and 904 in the north.

One hundred and sixty-eight people have now died from the illness in Ireland - 120 in the south and 48 in the north.

Today’s data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, reveal that as of midnight, Wednesday, April 1, 2020 (3,655 cases), 48% are male and 51% are female, with 171 clusters involving 626 cases.

The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years while 1,039 cases (28%) have been hospitalised.

Of those hospitalised, 148 cases have been admitted to ICU.

And 948 cases (26%) are associated with healthcare workers.

In Donegal there were 77 confirmed cases (2.1%), a rise of nine from 68 on Tuesday.

Dublin has the highest number of cases at 2,077 (57% of all cases) followed by Cork with 292 cases (8%)

Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 61%, close contact accounts for 23%, and travel abroad accounts for 16%.

Since yesterday 22 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in the south have died.

Eighteen deaths were located in the east, three in the south and one in the west of the country.

The patients included 11 females and 11 males. Sixteen patients were reported as having underlying health conditions and the median age of today’s reported deaths was 80.

There have now been 120 COVID-19 related deaths in the south with the median age of deaths at 82.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “We are concerned with the number of clusters identified in nursing homes. We have identified a range of measures, working with the HSE. We need to see continuous actions being taken to reduce the risk of transmission in nursing home and long-term residential facilities.”

Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “We are now facing into the end of week one of new measures. It has been a tough adjustment but these efforts save lives. We will continue to protect vulnerable groups against this virus, by staying home and following public health advice. These efforts result in lives saved.

“Anyone over 70 years of age should remain cocooned as per public health advice, and for essential food and prescription shopping, call on family, friends or services to help you. Over 70’s should not be leaving home.”

Dr. Colm Henry, Clinical Chief Officer, HSE, said; “There is now a clear picture of more severe illness in older people. This underlines the importance of our advice on cocooning and requires all of us to support any vulnerable people who find themselves in isolation.”

--------------------------------------------------------------

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

Thank you