THE DEPARTMENT OF Health has this evening confirmed a further 15 deaths from Covid-19 along with 92 new cases of the virus in Ireland.

It brings the total number of deaths in Ireland to 1,533. The total number of confirmed cases in Ireland has now reached 24,048.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar yesterday announced that Phase One of the roadmap to ease the current Covid-19 restrictions will go ahead as planned on Monday.

The number of new cases will be watched closely by public health officials to preempt a surge of new infections, with the possibility that further restrictions could be reimposed.

Data compiled by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) shows that, of the 23,879 cases reported as of midnight on Thursday, 14 May: 

• 57% are female and 42% are male
• The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
• 3,092 cases (13%) have been hospitalised
• Of those hospitalised, 389 cases have been admitted to ICU
• 7,530 cases are associated with healthcare workers
• Dublin has the highest number of cases at 11,657 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,357 cases (6%) and Cork with 1,346 cases (6%)
• Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 60%, close contact accounts for 37%, travel abroad accounts for 3%

“Today is the first time we have seen the number of confirmed cases fall below 100 since mid-March,” Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said. 

“While the past nine weeks have been particularly difficult for those cocooning, and for parents with young children, today’s numbers give reassurance that we have all learned and adopted new behaviours of hand washing, respiratory etiquette and social distance that will serve us well as we work together to re-open retail, business and society,” Dr Holohan said. 

With reporting by Hayley Halpin