Covid-19 latest: No additional deaths but 821 new cases

The Department of Health has confirmed that 821 new cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in Ireland as of midnight last night.

There have been no new deaths notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) today.

Of the confirmed new cases there are 333 in Dublin, 91 in Galway, 53 in Limerick, 41 in Kildare, 38 in Meath and the remaining 265 cases are spread across all other counties.

430 are male and 389 are female, with 70% under 45 years of age.

As of 2pm today, 916 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 157 are in ICU.

There were 40 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of Friday, February 12, 265,237 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, said that the commencement of vaccination of people aged over 85 in the community from today "marks a significant milestone as we seek to protect the most vulnerable from this pandemic". 

"It is an extraordinary testament to science that less than one year since our first case in Ireland, we are now in the process of rolling out three effective vaccines. 

"The challenge now is to continue to suppress this disease so that as many people as possible can benefit from these vaccines over the coming months," he said.

Dr Lorraine Doherty, National Clinical Director Health Protection HSE - Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), said:

"From today, the over 85 age sub-cohort, which accounts for approximately 72,500 people, will receive their first vaccine over the coming weeks. 

"This week, a total of 116 GP practices will participate in the rollout with an estimated 374 GP’s taking part.

"2,491 GP’s spread across 1,373 practices will administer vaccines to approximately 490,000 people over 70 years old, in the weeks ahead." 

Dr Sumi Dunne, General Practitioner, said:

"As of this morning, the beginning of the over 85’s cohort began to receive their vaccines at selected GP practices. "The level of vaccine confidence and enthusiasm for vaccination in this group has been widely reported, along with a sense of relief as hope for a normal life returns."

So far, there have been 210,402 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, with 3,948 Covid-19 related deaths in the country.