HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE confirmed that there are 553 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland – the largest number of new cases reported in one day so far.

As of 1pm today, a further 286 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were reported by a laboratory in Germany who have been analysing tests from the backlog of samples in Ireland.

There are now 8,928 confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland.

A further 33 people who had been diagnosed with Covid-19 have died. Of this number, 30 were located in the east, and three were in the west of the country. 25 people were reported as having underlying health conditions.

The gender breakdown of those who died was 14 females and 19 males, and the median age of today’s reported deaths was 82.

It brings the total number of deaths from the coronavirus in Ireland to 320. It was noted that there had been a de-notification of one death in the total deaths from Covid-19.

Analysis from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) shows that as of Thursday 9 April, when there were 7,787 cases and including German results received to that date, shows:

45% are male and 54% are female, with 356 clusters involving 1,626 cases

The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years

1,718 cases (22%) have been hospitalised

Of those hospitalised, 253 cases have been admitted to ICU

2,141 cases are associated with healthcare workers

Dublin has the highest number of cases at 4,156 (53% of all cases) followed by Cork with 581 cases (8%)

Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 66%, close contact accounts for 26%, travel abroad accounts for 8%.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that today’s figure of 553 “represents the largest number of new cases reported in a single day since the start of the outbreak”.

“This should remind everyone of the importance of hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and physical distancing. These are the actions to suppress this infection. We need to continue with them,” he said.