Coronavirus: Eighty cases (2%) of COVID-19 in Donegal as Irish death toll rises to 193

As of Saturday there have been 5,602 confirmed cases in Ireland - 4,604 in the south and 998 in the north.

One hundred and ninety-three people have now died from the illness in Ireland - 137 in the south and 56 in the north.

Today’s data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, reveal that as of midnight, Thursday, April 2, 2020 (4,014 cases), 48% are male and 52% are female, with 206 clusters involving 838 cases.

The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years and 1,118 cases (28%) have been hospitalised.

Of those hospitalised, 158 cases have been admitted to ICU.

And 1,084 cases (27%) are associated with healthcare workers.

In Donegal there were 80 confirmed cases (2%), a rise of three from 77 on Wednesday.

Dublin has the highest number of cases at 2,251 (56% of all cases) followed by Cork with 304 cases (8%)

Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 62%, close contact accounts for 24%, and travel abroad accounts for 14%.

Since yesterday 17 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in the south have died.

Fifteen deaths were located in the east, one in the south, and one in the west of the country

The patients included 4 females and 13 males.

Thirteen patients were reported as having underlying health conditions and the median age of today’s reported deaths is 77.

There have now been 137 COVID-19 related deaths in the south and the median age of deaths is 81.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre in Dublin was informed of 331 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the south as of 1pm, Saturday, April 4.

There have now been 4,604 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the 26 counties.

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: "This week, the National Public Health Emergency Team made a range of recommendations to support the response in nursing homes and long-term residential facilities to COVID-19.

"This remains a priority for our focused attention and we will continue to monitor the rate of infection within these environments and support the sector through this outbreak.

“The nationwide, collective effort to limit the spread of COVID-19 has been inspiring. We must keep up this effort, continue to protect the vulnerable in our society and ultimately flatten the curve.”