17 more COVID-19 patients have died in Ireland, with the number of confirmed cases rising to 3235.
It brings the death toll in the Republic to 71.
BREAKING: another 17 patients have sadly died, while 325 new #COVID19 cases have been confirmed today. It brings the death toll here to 71 and the number of confirmed cases to 3235
— Shane Beatty (@ShaneBeattyNews) March 31, 2020
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan said 52 of the new cases are men, while 19 are women.
He said more than eight in ten are over the age of 70 and two-thirds of them are in the east of the country.
Meanwhile, some 54 of them have underlying health conditions and 59 were diagnosed with the virus in hospital environments.
It means that a total of 99 coronavirus patients have now died on the island of Ireland, with 3821 confirmed cases.
Meanwhile, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has issued three new recommendations in response to the outbreak.
- Contact tracing will now target suspect cases within “prioritised groups” – with GPs and contact tracing teams to be issued with updated guidance.
- Tracing will now focus on the 48 hours before a patient first shows symptoms of the virus.
- Staff at long-term residential care facilities and nursing homes will be offered increased supports.
Dr Holohan said the measures should "significantly enhance the preparedness and response" to outbreaks in nursing homes and other residential settings.
Dr Cillian De Gascun, Chair of the Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group, speaking at an update on COVID-19 in Miesian Plaza, Dublin, 14-03-2020. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNewsAt the briefing this evening, Dr Cillian De Gascun Chair of the Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group said a total of 30,213 COVID-19 tests have now been carried out in the Republic.
The percentage of positive cases has jumped from 6% to 15% this week, after the HSE said patients would need to be displaying two major symptoms of the virus before they could qualify for testing.
He said testing was now focused on people in hospital, healthcare workers and vulnerable groups - and admitted that patients outside of those groups could be waiting as long as ten days for a result.
He urged anyone experiencing symptoms to self-isolate for 14 days regardless of whether they have been tested for the virus.
