A further 44 people have died of coronavirus, while 709 more cases have been confirmed in the Republic this evening.
The death toll has risen to 530 and the new total of confirmed cases in Ireland is now 13,980.
The cases update is made up of 597 new cases from Irish labs and 112 cases reported from samples sent to a German lab, as of 11.15am today, Friday April 17.
Of the 44 people who have died, 33 were located in the east, three in the north west, three in the south and five in the west of the country.
The victims included 19 women and 25 men.
The median age of today’s reported deaths is 84.
25 people were reported as having underlying health conditions.
A summary of all 530 deaths provided by the HPSC shows that:
308 (58%) of those who died were male, 222 (42%) were female
The age range is 23 - 105 years
The median age of those who died is 83
316 of these cases were admitted to hospital with 45 admitted to ICU
Today’s data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Wednesday, April 15 (13,012 cases) reveals:
44% are male and 55% are female, with 436 clusters involving 2,723 cases
The median age of confirmed cases is 48 years
2,082 cases (16%) have been hospitalised
Of those hospitalised, 294 cases have been admitted to ICU
3,347 cases are associated with healthcare workers
Dublin has the highest number of cases at 6,567 (51% of all cases) followed by Cork with 945 cases (7%)
Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 53%, close contact accounts for 42%, travel abroad accounts for 5%
The National Public Health Emergency Team said it met today to continue its ongoing review of Ireland’s response to Covid-19.
Decisions from this meeting included:
To expand testing capacity to 100,000 tests per week operating on a seven-day week basis for a minimum of six months
Over the course of the next 7-10 days, testing of staff and residents in all Long-Term Residential Care (LTRC) facilities to be prioritised
A census of mortality across all LTRC facilities to be carried out this weekend to cover all deaths, COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 since 1 January 2020, regardless of where the death occurred
Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, said: “At today’s meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team, we endorsed a proposal to increase testing of staff and residents across all long-term residential care settings including nursing homes.
"The behaviour of the virus among vulnerable groups who live in these care settings continues to be a concern and this remains a priority for NPHET.
"While we are suppressing the disease among the general public, we cannot afford to become complacent.
"To remain safe from COVID-19 we need to continue to wash our hands thoroughly and regularly, cough into our elbows and practice social distancing.
"These simple measures can slow down the spread of this virus and save lives."
Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer at the HSE, said: "Each COVID-19 death reported is a tragedy.
"This is an incurable illness and while 80% of the population will experience a mild form of the disease, our older and more vulnerable people are at a much greater risk due to the behaviour of this disease within this group."
