Coronavirus Ireland: nine further deaths and 443 new cases confirmed

There have been nine new deaths of people with Covid-19 and 443 further cases of the virus confirmed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) this evening.

Three of these deaths occurred in January, two in February, three in March and one in April.

This brings the number of people who have died with the virus in Ireland to 4,727, while the total case count has risen to 238,907.

There were 208 new cases confirmed in Dublin, 32 in Cork, 24 in Kildare, 20 in Meath, 17 in Donegal and the remaining 142 spread across 19 other counties.

Carlow and Kilkenny recorded no new cases in the last 24-hour reporting period.

As of 2pm today, there were 261 people with Covid-19 in Irish hospitals, of which 60 are in intensive care settings. There have been 12 newly confirmed cases in hospitals in the past 24 hours, while six people were discharged.

Of the cases notified today; 239 are men and 203 are women; 75pc are under 45 years of age and the median age is 31 years old.

The national 14-day incidence rate has fallen to 157.1 cases per 100,000 people.

Offaly (407) continues to have the highest incidence in the country while Sligo (27.5) has the lowest.

Latest HSE data shows that 660,800 have received at least one vaccine dose as of last Saturday, with 271,524 people now fully vaccinated in the State. 932,324 doses have been administered in total.

Earlier today, EMA’s head of vaccines Marco Cavaleri told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero that there is a link between the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and blood clots.

“In my opinion, we can say it now, it is clear there is a link with the vaccine. But we still do not know what causes this reaction,” he said.

“In the next few hours, we will say that there is a connection, but we still have to understand how this happens,” Mr Cavaleri continued.

Mr Cavaleri said they are still trying to understand where exactly this link comes from.

“We are trying to get a precise picture of what is happening, to define in detail this syndrome due to the vaccine,” he said.

“Among the vaccinated, there are more cases of cerebral thrombosis ... among young people than we would expect.”

An investigation is also underway in the UK, where researchers are looking at the possibility of links between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare blood clots. Many countries have already begun to restrict the use of the vaccine in younger people.

Online Editors