LATEST: Kilkenny among 1,754 new cases of virus as 11 further deaths confirmed
A further 11 people have died after contracting the coronavirus as 1,754 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed this evening.
It brings the overall death toll as a result of the virus to 2,248. There has now been 93,532 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across the country, according to the latest daily briefing from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
The breakdown of the latest cases is as follows: 523 are in Dublin, 296 in Cork, 180 in Galway, 104 in Mayo, 94 in Kerry with the remaining 557 cases are spread across all other counties, including 25 further infections in Kilkenny.
Commenting on the latest figures, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “The most concerning trend at present is the rapidly increasing number of people being admitted to hospital – we are now admitting between 50 – 70 people a day to our hospital system. Unfortunately, we expect this to get worse before it gets better. Our health system will not continue to cope with this level of impact.
Dr Holohan added: “We have also seen a significant increase in positive laboratory tests in recent days reflecting a true increase in the incidence of the disease as well as the delay in people coming forward for testing over the Christmas period. As our systems catch up with these effects it places significant pressure on our reporting system.
“We have always understood that numbers of positive tests or confirmed cases would be a less reliable indicator over the Christmas period. This is typical of infectious disease reporting annually over the two weeks of Christmas and New Year.
“What is clear are the measures that the Government has now mandated and the behaviours that we as individuals need to observe. Everyone needs to stay at home other than for essential work or care.”
PHOTO: Stock image
