HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE confirmed a further 16 patients diagnosed with Covid-19 have died and there are 51 new cases of the disease in Ireland.

Yesterday, the country entered into Phase One of the Government’s plan to ease restrictions.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has said the virus has now been suppressed and its impact on public health has been limited.

Appearing before the Special Dáil Covid-19 Committee today, he said the turnaround times for the sample, test and contact trace process have improved recently, but more work has to be done.

There have now been a total 1,561 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland with 24,251 cases confirmed.

The breakdown of 24,176 cases shows:

· 57% are female and 43% are male

· The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years

· 3,143 cases (13%) have been hospitalised

· Of those hospitalised, 390 cases have been admitted to ICU

· 7,661 cases are associated with healthcare workers

· Dublin has the highest number of cases at 11,759 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,379 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,372 cases (5%)

· Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 60%, close contact accounts for 37%, travel abroad accounts for 3%

As of midnight Monday 18 May, 295,626 tests have been carried out.

Over the past week, 36,818 tests were carried out and of these 932 were positive, giving a positivity rate of 2.5%.

Dr Cillian De Gascun, Chair of the NPHET Expert Advisory Group, said: “Despite broadening the case definition and increases in referrals the positivity rate has continued to decline. This indicates a consistent suppression of COVID-19 in the community.”