28 more deaths from Covid-19, 198 cases confirmed in Meath

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today revealed that 28 people diagnosed with Covid-19 in Ireland have died and that another 500 cases have been diagnosed.

Of the 28 deaths the averge age was 81, 15 females and 13 males. 19 the 28 had an underlying condition
There has now been 263 COVID-19-related deaths in Ireland. There are now 6,074 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

In Meath there are now 198 confirmed cases of Covid-19 - 3.1 per cent of the national total.

The National Public Health Emergency Team’s modelling data has revealed that Ireland’s effort to date has greatly reduced the transmission of the virus:

- the growth rate has reduced from 33% daily in the early weeks of this outbreak, to 9% this week
- the number of people, on average, that someone with COVID 19 is likely to infect was high at the beginning of the outbreak at 4.5. We now see this ‘R’ (reproduction) number reduced very significantly

Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the NPHET Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group (IEMAG) said: "When an R number increases by even a fraction above one, the number of new cases per day will rise, slowly but inexorably. We are at a very delicate and critical point in our response to this pandemic.”

Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: "The virus is still sustaining itself in our community. If we do not stay at home and practice physical distancing then we are not stopping the spread.
“It is crucial that each one of us take seriously the risks this virus poses, follows the guidelines and limit the opportunity for this virus to spread.
“We must follow the public health advice as closely as we possibly can so that we can limit the spread of the virus.
"Stay at home, practice physical distancing, practice hand hygiene, protect each other."

Dr. Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer, HSE said: "I would like to acknowledge the enormous efforts of healthcare workers caring for patients in hospitals and the community. The best way people can show support for them is by staying at home and observing the guidelines. This keeps everyone safe.”
Research conducted on behalf of the Department of Health shows that the perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 has fallen sharply, from 43% on 26 March to 32% currently.

The nationally representative online survey of 1,270 adults conducted today, which is conducted twice weekly, reveals:

- levels of satisfaction with the amount of information from the government or state agencies remains extremely high at 87%
- hoarding behaviour has fallen back to 15% of adults: the level recorded at the start of the crisis on 2 March
- the percentage behaving safely continues to rise for behaviours such as washing hands (95%) and using sanitiser (81%), but has fallen for sitting apart from others (63%) possibly reflecting more time spent at home
- large majorities intend continuing with certain behaviours after coronavirus, including washing hands (93%), coughing into elbow (77%) and using sanitiser (59%)
- the proportion who feel that the worst of the COVID-19 crisis is still ahead of us has fallen sharply from 85% on 16 March to 62% today