Cases latest Coronavirus Ireland: Eight deaths and 329 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed

Another eight people have died and 329 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed by the Department of Health this evening.

It brings the number of people who have died with the virus to 2,314 while the total number of confirmed cases has risen to 76,776.

There have been 86 new cases in Dublin, 41 in Louth, 34 in Donegal, 25 in Limerick, 17 in Kildare and the remaining 126 cases are spread across another 20 counties.

Of the cases notified today; 162 are men and 166 are women; 64pc are under 45 years of age and the median age is 37 years old.

As of 2pm today, there were 196 Covid-19 patients in hospital, of which 31 are in ICU. There were 13 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

The national 14-day incidence rate is now 84.7, and there have been 4,032 cases confirmed in the last 14 days.

Donegal’s Covid incidence remains the highest in the country at 236.8 cases per 100,000, with Louth (192.4), Kilkenny 191.5 and Carlow (165.1) also well above the national average.

The five-day moving average of cases is now 316 per day, while the seven-day incidence rate is 44.4 per 100,000 of population.

Earlier today, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said the vaccine programme for Covid-19 may begin before the end of 2020.

Speaking at the launch of the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme today, Minister Donnelly said the European Medicines Agency, who are overseeing the testing of potential vaccines, may authorise the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on December 21.

The vaccine programme will then begin as soon as possible once the authorisation has been granted, Minister Donnelly disclosed.

Elsewhere, there were six deaths and 486 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Northern Ireland by the Department of Health.

More to follow..

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