Covid-19 latest: 93 deaths and 2,001 cases reported 

The Department of Health has this evening reported that 93 further deaths related to Covid-19 have been reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) today. 

Of the deaths reported today, 89 occurred this month and 3 deaths occurred in December. 

The median age of those who died was 82 years and the age range was 41-99 years.

There are no newly reported deaths in healthcare workers, nor were there any newly reported deaths in a young person under the age of 30.

It brings the number of Covid-19 related deaths reported to date in Ireland to 2,708. 

Almost 8,000 cases reported in Cork in last 14 days 

The Department said that the HPSC has also been notified of 2,001 confirmed cases of Covid-19. 

Of the cases notified today: 892 are men / 1,098 are women, 55% are under 45 years of age and the median age is 42 years old. 

There were 701 cases in Dublin, 204 in Cork, 102 in Waterford, 98 in Meath, 90 in Donegal and the remaining 806 cases are spread across all other counties.

A total of 7,988 cases of Covid-19 have now been reported in Cork in the 14 days to January 18th. 

191 people with Covid-19 being treated at Cork hospitals 

According to the Department of Health, as of 2pm today, 1,949 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 202 were in ICU at 11am. 

The latest HSE breakdown by hospital shows that last night 146 people with Covid-19 were being cared for at Cork University Hospital and 45 people with Covid-19 were being treated at the Mercy University Hospital. 

Twenty-two people with Covid-19 were being cared for at critical care units at the two hospitals. 

Speaking this evening, Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said people cannot afford to drop their guard. 

“While we are starting to see the early results of our collective efforts to minimise the transmission of the virus, we are very sadly reporting an additional 93 deaths today. We cannot afford to drop our guard against the very high levels of infection that remain in the community at present. Covid-19 ICU and hospitalisation numbers are of critical concern to us, representing a very significant pressure on our healthcare workers and on the provision of acute medical and surgical non-Covid care. We need everyone to stay at home, other than for essential reasons. The more that each individual follows this advice in their everyday lives, the more we can drive down the spread of Covid-19 and minimise the impact on vital healthcare services, patients and frontline workers.”