The Department of Health has announced 38 further COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total to 444.
In his latest briefing, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said 1,068 more cases have been confirmed, bringing the national total to 12,547.
He said 29 of the deaths were in the east of the country, with six in the west and three in the south.
Some 22 were men and 16 were women. All but one were suffering from underlying health conditions.
BREAKING: A further 38 people are confirmed to have sadly died from #Covid19 in the Republic. 657 new cases confirmed today too, along with 411 back from a German lab. It now brings the death toll to 444 & the number of confirmed cases stands at 12,547. #StayHome 🙏
— Shane Beatty (@ShaneBeattyNews) April 15, 2020
Dr Holohan said: “We are continuing to monitor the course of this disease across a range of indicators – not only in the number of confirmed cases and deaths reported but also through hospital and ICU admissions, clusters and patterns of transmission.
“While a number of these parameters are going in a positive direction, it is clear that we need to keep going in our efforts, on an individual level, to limit the spread of this virus.”
Of the 11,261 cases confirmed by midnight on Monday, 55% were women and 45% were men.
One-in-five had been hospitalised with their symptoms, while 280 people had been admitted to intensive care.
At least 77 of the patients taken to the ICU have since been released.
BREAKING: A further 38 people are confirmed to have sadly died from #Covid19 in the Republic. 657 new cases confirmed today too, along with 411 back from a German lab. It now brings the death toll to 444 & the number of confirmed cases stands at 12,547. #StayHome 🙏
— Shane Beatty (@ShaneBeattyNews) April 15, 2020
More than one quarter of the country’s confirmed cases are healthcare workers while more than half are in Dublin.
Dr Siobhan Ni Bhriain, Consultant Psychiatrist and HSE Integrated Care Lead, said: “There are still concerning reports that attendance to emergency departments is unusually low.”
“This concerns us,” she said. “Everyone should continue to seek medical intervention if concerned about their health.
“Do not ignore symptoms of illness because of fear of contracting COVID-19 or fear of imposition on healthcare staff.
“The health service is there for everyone and all medical concerns.”
-Of those hospitalised, 280 cases have been admitted to ICU
-2,872 cases are associated with healthcare workers
-Dublin has the highest number of cases at 5,850 (52% of all cases) followed by Cork with 829 cases (7%)
— MerrionStreet.ie #StayAtHome (@merrionstreet) April 15, 2020
It comes as HSE nurses are to be redeployed to private nursing homes in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
Almost half of the COVID-19 related deaths recorded around the country so far have been in nursing homes and there are now clusters of cases in over one-third of the homes around the country.
Meanwhile, six more deaths have been reported in the North, bringing the death toll for the island of Ireland to 584.
A total of 2088 cases have been confirmed in the North, bringing the island’s total to 14,635.
Some 13,672 people have been tested for the virus in the North. As of Monday, some 90,646 had been carried out in the Republic.
