HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE confirmed that a further 56 people have died with Covid-19 in Ireland.

The total number of people with the virus in Ireland who have died now stands at 4,237.

The National Public Health Emergency Team also said that 574 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases in Ireland to date to 216,870.

31 of the 56 deaths reported today occured in February, 13 happened in January, three in December or earlier, while a further nine are under investigation. 

The median age of those who died was 82 and the age range was 16 to 97. 

Of the cases notified today:

• 285 are men and 287 are women
• 67% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 34 years old
• 175 cases are in Dublin, 57 are in Limerick, 43 are in Kildare, 37 are in Galway, 35 are in Meath and the remaining 227 cases are spread across 18 other counties. 

As of 8am today, 652 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 137 are in ICU. There have been 35 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of 21 February, 353,971 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland. A total of 222,073 people have received their first dose and 131,898 people have received their second dose.

“We continue to see good progress, but this needs to be sustained. It is vital that we get our children back to school over the coming weeks. A key part of making this a success will be our continued collective buy-in to the public health measures that are tried and tested. Stay at home, work from home where possible,” Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said.

“Given the increased transmissibility of the virus now, we must continue to limit our social contacts and do all we can to starve this disease of opportunities to spread.”

With reporting by Stephen McDermott