BREAKING: Eight new deaths in Ireland as number of confirmed coronavirus cases increases to 2,910

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) has reported that eight people diagnosed with Covid-19 have sadly passed away over the past 24 hours.

Six of those are located in the east of the country, with one in the west and one in the south. Three are males, five are females and six of them had an underlying medical condition.

The median age of today's reported deaths is 86. Today's deaths bring the total coronavirus death toll in Ireland to 54.

There have also been 295 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, bringing the total number of cases in Ireland to 2,910.

With the country currently in a two-week lockdown, it is hoped that the spread of the virus will be significantly slowed.

The HSE is now working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

Read also: Longford County Council sets up dedicated Covid-19 helpline

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; “We are beginning to see encouraging signs in our efforts to flatten the curve. However, we cannot become complacent as we are still seeing new cases and more ICU admissions every day.

“Our strategy remains the implementation of public health restrictions to interrupt the spread of the virus and prevent people from arriving to ICU in first place.”

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group (IEMAG), said; “We know what an unmitigated epidemic looks like, we are not on that track.

“The model reveals that before restrictions were in place, daily growth rate of confirmed cases was at 33%. This has fallen in recent days to around 15%. But it is still growing and needs to fall further.

“It takes time to see the impact of our efforts in the numbers. It will be another 7-10 days before we have a reliable picture of how effective our collective efforts have been.”

The Department of Health recently published an Ethical Framework for Decision-Making in a Pandemic.

Dr Siobhán O’Sullivan, Chief Bioethics Officer, Department of Health, said; “Clinicians have to make tough decisions, often on a daily basis. This framework has been developed to support clinicians in making sound clinical judgement, within a very complex environment.

“We will continue to support our healthcare professionals, especially in the toughest aspects of their work.”

Today’s data from HPSC, as of midnight, Saturday, March 28 (2,475 cases), reveals:

• 50% are male and 49% are female, with 111 clusters involving 428 cases
• the median age of confirmed cases is 47 years
• 645 cases (26%) have been hospitalised
• of those hospitalised, 84 cases have been admitted to ICU
• 578 cases (23%) are associated with healthcare workers
• Dublin has the highest number of cases at 1,393 (56% of all cases) followed by Cork with 217 cases (9%)
• of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 50%, close contact accounts for 27%, travel abroad accounts for 23%

Read also: Longford County Council takes the lead in joining together local organisations to assist citizens during Covid-19