HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE confirmed that a further three people with Covid-19 have died in Ireland, and there have been 47 new cases. 

This brings to 1,659* the total number of people with Covid-19 who have died in this country.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, there have been 25,111* confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

In relation to case increases in at-risk facilities over the past week, there have been 8 additional cases in the Roma community, there have been 3 additional cases at Direct Provision centres, increase of 3 cases in the Travelling community, and an increase of 9 cases at homeless services.

There has been one new cluster in the past week in any of these settings – at a Direct Provision centre. At meat processing plants, there have been 123 new confirmed cases.

Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Monday 1 June (25,064 cases), reveals:

• Of confirmed cases, 57% are female and 43% are male
• The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
• 3,298 cases (13%) have been hospitalised
• Of those hospitalised, 409 cases have been admitted to ICU
• 8,004 cases are associated with healthcare workers
• Dublin has the highest number of cases at 12,093 (48% of all cases) followed by Cork with 1,517 cases (6%) and then Kildare with 1,419 cases (6%)
• Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 39%, close contact accounts for 59%, travel abroad accounts for 2%.

In Northern Ireland, eight more people have died after testing positive for Covid-19, bringing the toll to 534.

A further eight positive tests have brought the total diagnosed to 4,740.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said at tonight’s briefing that it looked likely that restrictions would be eased, saying “we haven’t seen a significant change in the behaviour of the virus”.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said; “Our recovery rate is now at 91%. This is positive news and confirms the expectation that most people who get Covid-19 will recover.

“However, it remains the case that this is an unpredictable virus, and the prognosis for any one individual diagnosed, regardless of their current health, remains uncertain.”

Dr Siobhán Kennelly, HSE National Clinical Advisor and Group Lead for Older Persons; “It is our collective responsibility to continue to support vulnerable groups in our society. Vulnerable groups include older people and people with underlying health conditions of any age.

Keep a 2 metre distance when outdoors, maintain respiratory etiquette and continue to wash hands regularly.

Earlier today, Health Minister Simon Harris said that the number of cases would continue to be monitored over the next day or so before a decision is made by Cabinet on Friday as to whether the country can proceed to Phase Two of the lifting of restrictions.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) is due to meet tomorrow and will make a recommendation to government thereafter.

Ahead of this evening’s briefing at the Department of Health, a protest was held to call for implementing a single-tier healthcare system in Ireland.

*Two deaths related to Covid-19 and two confirmed cases have been denotified since yesterday, based on the Department of Health’s analysis of HPSC data.

- with reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha