PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS have confirmed 1,545 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

As of 8am today there were 335 patients with Covid-19 in hospital, including 56 in ICU.

Yesterday, there were 1,470 new cases of Covid-19, 367 people in hospital with the illness and 59 in ICU.

Deaths are being announced weekly due to the HSE data breach in May – as of today, a total of 5,155 people have died with Covid-19 in Ireland.

That includes 43 additional deaths that have been notified since last week. However, that does not necessarily mean that the deaths occurred in the past week as the system in Ireland allows a period of time for families to register the death of a relative. 

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Tony Holohan said that “overall the incidence of Covid-19 infection is declining across the country”.

“The five day moving average is 1,407 and we see a stabilisation of ICU and hospital admissions,” Dr Holohan said.

“Incidence of Covid-19 in adolescents and young adults is falling significantly and we are seeing early encouraging signs that the rate of infection plateauing in children of school going age. NPHET will continue to monitor this trend over the coming weeks,” he said.

“Vaccination continues to offer the best protection against the most severe effects of Covid-19 including hospitalisation and death.”

Covid-19 testing centres around the country are currently not taking walk-ins.

The HSE is instead asking people to book slots online as testing volume increased by 35% in recent days.

“Online self-referrals remain open and capacity has been extended to meet 20,000 a day demand,” the HSE said in a statement to The Journal.

“We expect anyone who wishes to get tested can get a test same day, depending on what time they book.”