Eight additional deaths related to COVID-19 and 922 new cases confirmed

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of eight additional deaths related to COVID-19.

There has been a total of 2,192 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight Wednesday 23rd December, the HPSC has been notified of 922 confirmed cases of COVID-19; 39 of these are in Kerry.

There is now a total of 83,073* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

• 438 are men, 477 are women
• 68% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 33 years old
• 337 in Dublin, 73 in Cork, 70 in Limerick, 56 in Wexford, 43 in Galway and the remaining 343 cases are spread across all other counties.

As of 8am today, 255 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 22 are in ICU. 37 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “Unfortunately, none of the indicators of this disease are showing encouraging signs. Ireland now has the fastest growing incidence rate in the European Union.”

“This Christmas, the best present you can give your loved ones is to strictly adhere to the public health advice.”

“Make your Christmas safe, meaningful and memorable for the right reasons. Stay home, stay safe and stay well. Limit contact as much as you can and ensure you and your loved ones have a happy and safe Christmas.”

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.

*Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 4 confirmed case. The figure of 83,073 confirmed cases reflects this.

Today’s cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 23 December 2020) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)